International Link Curation

KEVIN GIBBONSBLUEGLASS.CO.UK

@KEVGIBBO

Please tweet get well soon to @ChelseaBlacker!

BlueGlass.co.uk@BlueGlass @KevGibbo

• BlueGlass EMEA, Zürich, Switzerland

BlueGlass UK,London, England

• .

We speak over 25 languages

Translated & promoted infographic across 12 countries:Generated high quality links & social shares from authority publications

http://fiz-x.com/how-to-make-a-lightsaber/

Promoted electronic components infographicAcquired 100+ links/co-citations from 65 unique domains across 5 countries

@KevGibbo

Sharing Our Learning…

A one-fits all approach just doesn’t work

Translation isn’t good enough!

You still need local knowledge

But without centralisation it looks like this!

International success needs to be tied into a wider digital strategy

Centralised Strategy + Local Knowledge =Best International SEO Success

@KevGibbo

International SEO Tips

BlueGlass.co.uk@BlueGlass @KevGibbo

Don’t wait. Algorithm changes happen in English about 6 months before rolling out in other languages, anticipate how to improve link building issues before updates lead you down the wrong path.

BlueGlass.co.uk@BlueGlass @KevGibbo

Many languages have very limited geographic reach, ensure content can be tailored.

BlueGlass.co.uk@BlueGlass @KevGibbo

Low domain authority in small markets isn’t unusual, it’s simply because these markets don’t attain the same volume

BlueGlass.co.uk@BlueGlass @KevGibbo

Broken Bridges. Links of low quality sites from bordering countries or even worse different-language countries can prove harmful. Build logical bridges between content.

Understand local behaviour & European holiday timetables

Outreach is Much Easier with Personal Relationships

Timing is Important – it all Needs to Line-Up

HREFLANG Can Work Very Well – Especially for Lower Populated Countries

@KevGibbo

Country Tips

@KevGibbo

• Hobby bloggers or webmasters of non-commercial websites can be very sceptical of Outreach requests

• Good opportunities in other German speaking countries such as Austria and Switzerland

• Target just a few websites and personally address them, explaining the benefit to their site to share your link

• Content/emails must be written by a native speaker• German people are quite straight forward – just tell them

what you want!

Germany

BlueGlass.co.uk@BlueGlass @KevGibbo

• Yandex has market share – and old-school tactics still work here, but build carefully, focusing on natural links if you can.

• As a general rule, Russian web users are a bit younger than in other western European countries so take this into account when creating content for them.

• Outreach in English can work, better than other European countries – but native speakers always have better success

Russia

BlueGlass.co.uk@BlueGlass @KevGibbo

• They have different characteristics, however one theme runs through all of them: There is very limited resource and audience compared with other markets.

• Nordic users are very web savvy, but SEO is far behind.• While most users are fluent in English, they do search in

their mother tongue so it’s not enough to write content in English.

• Lots of consumer protection laws around sending unsolicited emails, personal relationships work better

• In general, its best to approach in the native language and ask if you can speak with them in English.

• There are many blogging platforms popular with Nordic audiences like ____, but not many independent TLD for relevant countries.

Nordics

BlueGlass.co.uk@BlueGlass @KevGibbo

• When approaching French speaking webmasters, only speak in French. Make sure your grammar is correct.

• Co-branded content partnerships work much better than link exchanges for content.

French

@KevGibbo

• Italian market is very small, which means you can get away building links from sites with standards below those of English language websites.

• Even Italian national media websites often have very average domain authority scores.

Italian

BlueGlass.co.uk@BlueGlass @KevGibbo

• Very commercially savvy• Building blogger relationships can be a long-process, but

pays off long-term• To gain access to top quality sites, create a piece of

content which shifts a niche’s standards or knowledge base.

• Don’t expect quick results, the American market takes a while.

USA

Main Takeaways…

• Integrate a single strategy with a range of local expertise

• It’s all relative - understand the different market approaches and limitations

• Implement HREFLANG - especially for markets where link building is tough

KEVIN GIBBONS KGIBBONS@BLUEGLASS.CO.UK @KEVGIBBOBLUEGLASS.CO.UK