Hi and welcome!
My name is Emma Wijninga and I write about Berlin for Dutch speaking visitors. On this page you will find a lot of information about this website, about me, facts and figures about my reach and what kind of cooperations are possible. Just select one of the tabs below to read more!
I am looking for sustainable cooperations with hotels, restaurants, museums and other institions in Berlin, to offer my readers the very best Berlin experience they could possibily have. That sounds like you? Don’t hesitate to contact me!
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WattedoeninBerlijn.nl (What to do in Berlin in English) is my personal website about Berlin. When we moved to Berlin in 2013, my friends kept asking me what they should do in Berlin and I got sick of writing it down every time. So I decided to start a blog in November 2014. It’s grown into the biggest topical Dutch website about Berlin.
Personal stories and experiences – On this website I share a variety of personal stories and experiences, give out both cool and practical tips and information and write a lot about the history of Berlin. I’m very active on social media as well, where I share my own photography and everything Berlin.
Dedicated pages and new tools – I write about almost anything you can see, do or experience in Berlin. Next to that, I try to help out tourists with basic information on where to sleep and eat, and how to travel to Berlin. I’ve created dedicated pages about good coffee, nice museums, the best restaurants and other eateries, Berlin’s brilliant public transport and of course the hundreds of events happening here each year. For the events I created a fantastic event calendar, which I build from scratch with my (technical) partner Kees.
Guided tours – I also hosted many Dutch guided history tours in Berlin for the last six years. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic and the current inflation and rising energy prices, I have decided to find a more secure form of employment starting November 2022. I hope to find a job that combines tourism, Berlin, history and my marketing skills and knowledge.[/toggle]
[toggle title=”About me“]
My name is Emma Wijninga and I’m a 34-year old from the Netherlands. I studied journalism in Zwolle, Netherlands and moved to Berlin with my partner Kees in 2013. My first visit to Berlin was in 2007 and I couldn’t help it: I fell in love with the city, it’s vibe, the history and potential. Over the years, I got to know Berlin very well and visited two to three times a year.
In 2011 I knew I wanted to live in Berlin for a while, to learn the language, culture and have some experience abroad. I asked Kees to come with me and we moved to Berlin two years later. It’s been our home ever since and we love living in Germany.
The first four years in Berlin I worked in copywriting, marketing and SEO at two different start ups. In 2017 I became a fulltime self employed blogger and tour guide in Berlin. Visit my LinkedIn page.
I still love news and the rush of scoops, I’m still a journalist at heart. But I prefer to write about Berlin and her amazing history, and inform tourists in the best possible way about this city.
If I’m not guiding, working or writing, I’m busy with photography, taking long walks through Berlin or visiting coffee places, restaurants or smaller flea markets.
Since the summer of 2021 I live east of Berlin in a small village in Brandenburg (near Strausberg), with my fiancée Kees and our two cats, Gilmour and Bowie. I travel to Berlin several times per week for work.
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[toggle title=”Target audience, reach and numbers“]
Wattedoeninberlijn.nl focusses soley on Dutch and Belgian tourists who are interested in or visiting Berlin.
According to Visit Berlin more than 150.000 Dutch and Belgian vistors come to Berlin each year. Many already visited Berlin in the past (and come back regularly), others are visiting Berlin for the first time.
All Berlin visitors are interested in history and the culinary and cultural side of the city. I try offer my readers an interesting mix of content, to keep them entertained and informed, but also well prepared for a visit to Berlin.
Numbers
The Covid-Pandemic influenced my website immensely. My traffic fell back a lot and I lost a lot of Google competition for keywords with big companies (such as ANWB but also Booking and Tripadvisor). Before Covid, I had over 20.000 unique visitors on my website every month. This sunk below 7.000 in 2020 and 5.000 in 2021.
Right now (August 2022), the numbers are finally back up again, and hovering between 13.000 and 16.000 unique monthly visitors. I am working hard to update all the content and add new articles to bring my website back to 20.000 visitors and beyond.
Post Covid – 2022 (August)
16.000 unique visitors
22.000 page views
Average time on site: 3 minutes
Average pages per session: 2.5
Pre Covid – 2020 (February):
20.000 unique visitors
45.000 page views
Average time on site: 13 minutes
Average pages per session: 2.5
My unique combination of content, modern marketing techniques (focussed only on organic growth, no ads!) and a huge passion for both Berlin and my business, has helped me to turn many visitors of my website into fans. I’m super stoked about these numbers and it really motivates me to grow my website further.
Many Berlin lovers also follow my blog via other channels. This is why I like to be active on social media as well. Here you find the latest figures of february 2019. As I keep my channels free of fake followers or spammy followers, I created a small but very active and engaged community. Also here, I don’t work with any ads to grow my reach, I am still convinced I can grow better and more sustainable the organic way.
Do you want to see additional numbers? Just contact me via the form below and I’ll respond as soon as possible. I don’t work with a press kit, as each company wants to know different things. Due to business reasons I no longer use Facebook actively. [/toggle]
[toggle title=”Cooperations“]
There are several options to promote your product or service on wattedoeninberlijn.nl. In all cases I create the content for the services below myself, adding my own photography if needed. Since I’m an experienced marketeer and SEO-manager, I will SEO-optimize all content I write according to my own insight.
• Sponsored content – Does your company offer travel to, events in or services around Berlin and do you want me to write about this? I’d love to write an article for you, include my own fitting photography, some links to your site or company and further information. If desired, we can organize a give away of tickets, vouchers or something else. I’m open for many things, as long as it has value for my users.
• Review– Let write a review about my experience! I’d love to stay the night in your hotel in Berlin, check out your latest exposition or museum, or just invite me to visit your restaurant. I take loads of pictures and write an honest and fair review about your my experience, your service or product. My reviews are always honest, and might contain some friendly feedback or some fair criticism.
If you are just starting out or don’t have a large budget yet, but you think your service/institution or experience could be a real asset to my website, just send me some information per email or invite me to come and take a look.
• Linkbuilding – You don’t want any content on my site, but only care about having a link? This is possible, starting 200 euros per calendar year. Based on the SEO scores of your target domain, I decide where the link is placed and in what context. Ten months after placement, we discuss a potential extension. Inquire about this service via the form below, don’t forget to mention the url you want to link to.[/toggle]
[toggle title=”Media“]
Press and stuff
Press releases
Do you want me to read about your new hotel, a big event or anything else in Berlin that could be interesting for my readers? Great, just send me a message via the form below. Please mind that I don’t want to receive press releases about events that take place outside of Germany or aren’t Berlin-related.[/toggle]
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Contact
Use the form below to contact me directly via email. Please keep it as to the point as you can and clearly state your intentions/wishes, so I can react fast and adequate.
As I highly value the quality of my content on wattedoeninberlijn.nl, I exclusivly work with Berlin-related companies I find fitting for my business. This is essential to me, as I want to offer my readers interesting quality content that has value to them.