Presentation from BrightonSEO in Sept 2013 on international SEO and how to do link building in multilingual languages across Europe.

1. International Link Curation
KEVIN GIBBONS
BLUEGLASS.CO.UK
@KEVGIBBO

2. Please tweet get well soon to
@ChelseaBlacker!

3. BlueGlass.co.uk
@BlueGlass @KevGibbo
• BlueGlass EMEA,
Zürich, Switzerland
BlueGlass UK,
London, England
• .
We speak over 25 languages

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

5. http://fiz-x.com/how-to-make-a-lightsaber/
Promoted electronic
components infographic
Acquired 100+ links/co-citations
from 65 unique domains across
5 countries

6. @KevGibbo
Sharing Our Learning…

7. A one-fits all approach
just doesn’t work

8. Translation isn’t good enough!

9. You still need local knowledge

10. But without centralisation it looks like this!

11. International success needs to be tied into a
wider digital strategy

12. Centralised Strategy + Local Knowledge =
Best International SEO Success

13. @KevGibbo
International SEO Tips

14. 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.

15. BlueGlass.co.uk
@BlueGlass @KevGibbo
Many languages have very limited geographic reach,
ensure content can be tailored.

16. 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

17. 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.

18. Understand local behaviour & European holiday
timetables

19. Outreach is Much Easier with Personal
Relationships

20. Timing is Important – it all Needs to Line-Up

21. HREFLANG Can Work Very Well – Especially for
Lower Populated Countries

22. @KevGibbo
Country Tips

23. @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

24. 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

25. 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
Nordics

26. 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

27. @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

28. 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

29. 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

30. KEVIN GIBBONS
KGIBBONS@BLUEGLASS.CO.UK
@KEVGIBBO
BLUEGLASS.CO.UK