The situation in Belgium

Indeed, one has to remember that there are three official languages: French, Flemish and German (although the latter one is only spoken by a tiny minority). What makes things more complicated is that Brussels, the capital of Belgium, is also the capital of the European Union. Hence, the three main institutions of the EU – the Council of the European Union, the European Commission and European Parliament – are located in Brussels. The « EU quarter » is also surrounded by thousands of interest groups trying to influence to the decision-making process. Needless to say that the predominant language in this European’s affairs small world is English.

Brussels is a Babel Tower for SEO!

Consequences on SEO in Brussels

In the case of the creation and optimization of a typical website in Brussels, targeted audience in at least four languages, below are the consequences.

1. First, the domain name chosen has be neutral, preferably in English in order not to offend any community. So do not be surprised if, for example, the domain name chosen for the official Belgian Government portal is Belgium.be.
2. Then, the specifications regarding the creation of a website in Belgium has to integrate the multilinguism issue which has to be reflected in the core architecture of the website. The architecture has to be consistent to ensure the accessibility and indexability of the webiste in the different languages.
3. Needless to say that it has severe budget implications on the creation of the website regarding its technical development, the production of its content and its overall online promotion (SEO, SEM and SMO). As you can see, in terms of project / budget management, the reality of multilinguism makes SEO far more challenging that in any country of Europe. This is also why doing search engine optimization in Brussels at an expert level requires multiple skills.

I will not comment on the content of this conference, where I didn’t learn so much about SEO.  I would rather concentrate on aspects a bit more anecdotal, such as Google offices in Brussels or meeting with Matt Cutts.

About Google Belgium

For your information, the Google Belgium’s offices are located at Chaussee d’Etterbeek, 180, near Parc Leopold, at the heart of the EU quarter. This is not trivial, as one of the reasons of Google being present Belgium is that Google Inc. is not only interested to develop is business over here. Google Inc. also wants to better to better understand the European institutions to eventually lobby the EU policy-making process.

Indeed, this is hardly a secret that the Google Inc.’s privacy policy is not so much appreciated by the EU institutions. Google’s office in Brussels is therefore also dedicated to better inform EU decision-markers and EU of Google’s intentions. By the way, I strongly recommend you to read the Google Europe Policy Blog which aims at explaining Google’s view on EU policies. It is a quite interesting way to mix public relations, public affairs and web 2.0.

Matt cutts and myself at Google Belgium

About Matt Cutts

As an engineer, Matt Cutts works for the Search Quality group at Google Inc., specializing in SEO issues. He is well known in the SEO community for enforcing the Google Webmaster Guidelines and advising the public on how to get better website visibility on the SERPs.

As far as I am concerned, I was impressed by passion and ease in communicating complex SEO issues and especially its high availability. He answered all the questions from the public. More than that, he agreed to be photographed with Gregory and myself. He even accepted to answer a personal question about the way spam report works. The video will soon be published. What a day!

Question asked to Matt Cutts

Edit: Below is the famous video featuring Matt Cutts with myself asking the following question: How long does it take for a spam report to be taken into account by Google?

Conclusion: Be online, be visible, be influent online!

In any case, it conforts me that EU lobbyists must really integrate in their strategy eMarketing tools such as Web Analytics, SEO, SEM or SMO. Nowadays, these tools are becoming more and more essential to influence key EU decision-makers and stakeholders.

A profession at the intersection of technology, marketing and statistics

Being a webmarketer in Brussels is very challenging, especially when dealing with European affairs. Not only you have to possess a sound knowledge of how things work in the Brussels bubble but you also have to be somehow a technologist, a marketer and a statistician at the same time. This first diagram perfercly illustrates the complexity of our profession.

What does a SEO consultant?

If you are a SEO consultant, you have probably been confronted to the inexpertimentation of a client. And I would dare to say I generally dedicate more time explaining why SEO is a worhwile cost-effective channel rather than actually optimizing websites. This also the reason of the existence of our glossary dedicated to eMarketing. This second diagram I think perfectly illustrates this problem.

That’s why, I also provide dedicated eMarketing trainings to my clients. This is the best way to raise awareness about SEO issues and eventually turn your attendants into future clients.

eMarketing = SEO + SEM + SMO

As an eMarketing expert based in Brussels, I provide Internet services to help you increase your presence and visibility on the web. I developed a solid expertise in three fundamentals fiels that are SEO, SEM and SMO.

SEO Consultant

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can help you acquire long-term positioning in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) and thus gain visibility and influence on your strategic fiels of activity.

SEM Consultant

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) can help gain quickly visibility in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) through sponsored links campaigns.

SMO Consultant

SMO (Social Media Optimization) can help you create, manage and improve your online reputation on social media.

A ROI-based eMarketing approach

Whether you are looking to develop online your presence on the Internet, grow your visibility and influence decision-makers, eMarketingServices.eu commits itself to a result-oriented approach. Working together with a strong network of experts covering development, web design and eMarketing, we bring flexible and cost-effective services to help you achieve your objectives online.