Advanced Link Building Strategies for Localization Firms

Introduction to Link Building

Link building is a fundamental part of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). It involves acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own, a process that can significantly improve your site’s visibility and ranking on search engines. Understanding the importance of link building is crucial for any digital marketer or website owner.

The concept of link building is rooted in the way search engines like Google evaluate and rank websites. Search engines use links as a primary means of discovering new web pages and determining how pages should rank in their results. Essentially, links to your website are viewed as votes of confidence, indicating the relevance and authority of your content. The more high-quality links you have pointing to your site, the more likely search engines are to consider your site as valuable and relevant, boosting where you appear in the search results.

It’s more than just a numbers game. The quality of links is more important than their quantity. Define quality as links from reputable, high-traffic websites (these are far more beneficial than those from lesser-known sources). Additionally, the relevance of the linking sites to yours need to be considered. If you want to rank for localization based terms then links from localization related websites are usually more effective in enhancing your site’s SEO.

Link building also has the benefit as a tool for relationship building. By reaching out to other websites/webmasters for links, you create opportunities for networking and collaboration, which can lead to further marketing ventures beyond SEO as you never know where a conversation will take you. 

Understanding the different strategies for link building is also essential. These can range from content creation and promotion, guest blogging, and digital PR initiatives, to more technical approaches like broken link building. Each strategy has its unique advantages and fits different kinds of websites and industries.

There are huge opportunities in the localization space to help your website to improve the SEO of your LSP and be returned higher in the search engine results. In this article I explore some strategies you can employ to build links to your localization company/LSP/LSC. 

Localization Link Building Strategy

The foundation of successful link building lies in setting clear, well-defined goals. Are you aiming to amplify website traffic, enhance search engine rankings, or perhaps both? Clear goals serve as your guiding star throughout the process. After establishing these objectives, the next crucial step is to gain a deep understanding of your target audience. This involves going beyond basic demographics to explore their interests, online behaviours, and preferences in detail.

If your website focuses on language translation services for manufacturers, it’s essential to comprehend not just who your audience is, but also the type of content they engage with, the online platforms they frequent, and the influencers they trust. This insight shapes your content creation and outreach strategies. If you’re unclear about your destination, any road will take you there. By aligning your strategy with specific audience insights, you ensure that every effort made in link building is targeted, relevant, and more likely to yield results.

Content Creation for Link Building

Content is king. The goal is to craft content that is not just compelling but also informative and deeply relevant to your target audience. This kind of content naturally attracts links by offering significant value to readers. It’s about creating material that resonates with your audience’s interests and needs, thus motivating other websites, bloggers, and influencers within your niche to link to it organically.

The key to successful content creation is diversity. By varying the types of content you produce—be it insightful blog posts, visually engaging infographics, or informative videos—you can appeal to a wider audience and attract a broader range of backlinks. Each content type serves a purpose: blog posts can establish thought leadership, infographics can simplify complex data for easy sharing, and videos can offer engaging tutorials or insights. Remember, the content should always be designed with the audience in mind – it should be engaging, informative, and tailored to their preferences and interests. This multifaceted approach ensures your content is not just seen but shared, cited, and linked back to, fortifying your link building efforts.

List of Blogging Resources

For effective blogging, various tools can enhance your experience, from content creation to SEO optimization. Here’s a quick list of some of the best tools available:

• WordPress: A highly customisable platform, ideal for those with the experience to manage a blog’s design and maintenance. It’s a powerful CMS with a wide array of themes and plugins​​​​.
• Grammarly: This tool helps to ensure that your blog’s content is grammatically correct and stylistically sound. It’s particularly useful for extensive blog entries and other written content​​​​. Now with added AI. 
• Ahrefs: While primarily an SEO tool, Ahrefs can be useful for writers to research keywords, understand what content performs well in their niche, and generate ideas for new articles. Data is hard to find for the localization space but this tool seems to have the most. 
• Frase: An all-in-one blogging tool that assists in content research, writing, optimization, and provides real-time feedback. It is comparable to Surfer SEO but with additional built-in tools​​.
• Hemingway Editor: This tool focuses on improving the clarity and readability of your writing. It highlights complex sentences, passive voice, and suggests simpler alternatives to improve understanding​​.
• Google Docs: A versatile word processor that allows for real-time collaboration. It’s great for drafting, editing, and sharing documents online.
• Quillbot: A paraphrasing tool that can help you rephrase or rewrite sentences while maintaining the original meaning. Useful for avoiding plagiarism and improving sentence structure.

List of Infographics Resources 

Here’s a list of tools for creating infographics, each with unique features to suit different needs:

• Canva: Known for its user-friendly interface, Canva offers a vast library of images, icons, and illustrations. It allows real-time collaboration and offers a range of templates for various needs, making it ideal for both beginners and seasoned designers​​.
• Visme: Visme stands out for its customisable content blocks and a wide array of visual assets, including free stock photos, videos, and icons. It also offers advanced features like AI Image Generator for creating unique visuals and a comprehensive set of data visualisation tools​​.
• Adobe Express: This tool provides a variety of templates for different types of infographics. Adobe Express is known for its ease of use and the ability to create visually appealing infographics quickly​​.
• Venngage: Offering over 10,000 templates, Venngage is suitable for creating diverse types of infographics, including professional and compliant designs. It’s a great tool for those who want to create infographics without needing extensive design skills​​.

• Infogram: Infogram focuses on creating interactive and engaging infographics. It offers features like animations, interactive charts, and maps, along with real-time collaboration and analytics to track audience engagement​​.
• Genially: Unique for its built-in word processing function, Genially allows for editing text directly while designing. It supports animations and interactive elements, making it a versatile choice for dynamic infographics​​.
• Google Charts: For those looking for simple, straightforward graphics, Google Charts offers an efficient way to create various types of charts and graphs. It’s a good choice for users already familiar with Google’s suite of tools​​.

List of Video Creation tools

Creating engaging video content requires the right tools. Each of these tools below offers unique functionalities that cater to different aspects of video content creation, from editing and colour grading to animation and screen recording. Depending on the type of video content you’re aiming to produce, some of these tools may be more suitable for your needs than others:

• Adobe Premiere Pro: A professional-grade video editing software widely used in the industry. It offers a wide range of editing features, colour correction, and audio mixing tools.
• Final Cut Pro X: Popular among Mac users, Final Cut Pro X provides powerful editing capabilities, including magnetic timeline, multicam editing, and advanced colour grading.
• DaVinci Resolve: Known for its exceptional colour correction and audio post-production features. DaVinci Resolve combines editing, colour correction, visual effects, and audio post-production in one tool.
• Canva: While primarily a design tool, Canva also offers video editing features. It’s great for creating short promotional videos or social media content with its user-friendly interface.
• InVideo: A versatile online video editing tool that’s great for creating videos quickly. It offers a variety of templates and a simple interface, suitable for beginners.
• Filmora: Filmora is a user-friendly video editing software ideal for beginners. It offers a variety of effects, transitions, and text tools.
• Animoto: A cloud-based video creation service that allows users to create and share videos using photos, video clips, and music. It’s particularly user-friendly for those with no video editing experience.
• Camtasia: Ideal for creating instructional videos and presentations, Camtasia offers screen recording and video editing tools in one package.
• Lumen5: This AI-driven tool is designed to help you transform blog posts and content into engaging videos. It’s particularly useful for content marketers and social media managers.
• Vimeo Create: A simple and intuitive tool provided by Vimeo that helps you make high-quality social videos.

Effective Outreach Techniques

Once you’ve developed some quality content for your website, the next step is outreach. Outreach essentially means reaching out to website owners, bloggers, and influencers to promote your own website content. This process is a bit more than just asking for links; it’s about establishing connections and highlighting how linking to your content is mutually beneficial to both parties. Skillfully crafted outreach emails that emphasise this mutual value can lead to better results.

Start by identifying the right websites, bloggers, and influencers in your niche. Look for those who have a strong presence in your industry and whose audience aligns with your content. Tools like BuzzSumo or Ahrefs can be useful for this purpose, as they help you find influential figures based on keywords and topics relevant to your content. Generic emails are often ignored. Take the time to learn about the person you’re contacting. Mention a recent article they wrote that you enjoyed, or comment on a shared interest. This personal touch can make your message stand out and shows that you’ve done your homework. People are very unlikely to link to one of your sales pages so before asking for a link make sure your content genuinely adds value. 

Webmasters are busy people and they will receive numerous outreach emails a week. Make sure your email is concise and gets to the point quickly. A clear, direct subject line can also help your email get noticed. Keep a record of who you’re outreaching to and follow up with them (a couple of times max) if they don’t get back to you. Effective outreach is a mix of art, science and luck. It’s about making genuine connections that provide value to both parties.

For those conducting extensive outreach, consider using a dedicated domain, such as www.YourTranslationCoPR.com (adding the ‘PR’ suffix). This strategy can safeguard you in case of spam reports, allowing you to discontinue the domain without impacting your main site (www.YourTranslationCo.com). This approach is a strategic safeguard, ensuring that your primary domain remains unaffected in the face of potential email-related issues.

Guest Blogging for Localization 

Guest blogging is a powerful tool for link building. It involves writing articles for other websites in your industry that (in part) link back to your own. This provides you with a platform to showcase your expertise to someone else’s audience and earns you valuable backlinks. The localization industry is renowned for its welcoming community and abounds with abundant opportunities for collaboration.

It is not a transactional activity; it’ll be built on top of the existing network you have, make sure you leverage it. Targets for you to consider are; 

• Localization associations 
• Localization companies 
• Universities 
• Customers
• Suppliers (lots of them have their own websites) 

Some translation companies invite people to submit blog posts, doing a google search with the words ‘localization’ and ‘submit guest blog post’ should return a list you can target. Most websites that accept guest posts have specific guidelines regarding content, style, format, and link placement. Adhering to these guidelines increases the likelihood of your article being accepted and helps building a positive relationship with the website owner or editor.

There are many lists and directories online that compile sites accepting guest posts. These can be a time-efficient way to gather a large number of potential opportunities. However, it’s important to assess each site for relevance and quality before you commit as very few will be in the localization niche.  

When you guest blog, you’re representing your website and contributing to another platform’s value. The content you provide needs to be well-researched, informative, and engaging. It should offer unique insights or perspectives to stand out and resonate with the host site’s audience. After your guest post is published, monitor its performance. Track metrics like traffic, engagement, and backlink quality. Use this data to refine your future guest blogging strategy. 

Leverage Social Media for Link Building

Leveraging social media for link building is an effective strategy, but it requires a nuanced understanding of each platform’s characteristics and constraints. Keep the following in mind:

1. The Engaging Yet Addictive Nature of Social Media: Social media platforms are designed to captivate users, which can be a double-edged sword. It’s vital to approach these platforms with a well-defined strategy that emphasises effective time management. Setting specific objectives and time constraints for your social media activities is essential to prevent getting lost in non-productive aspects of these platforms.
2. Control Over Content: Content posted on social media is subject to the terms and conditions of the respective platforms, which might not always align with your control over how the content is used or displayed. To counter this, prioritise hosting your most crucial content on your own website or platform. Use social media as a conduit for directing traffic to your website, where you have complete authority over your content.
3. Balancing Perception and Reality: Many social media platforms, such as Instagram, are known for showcasing a polished, sometimes idealised version of reality. In your social media content strategy, aim for authenticity and transparency. Content that is genuine and provides tangible value is more likely to engage audiences effectively, fostering deeper connections and opening avenues for link-building opportunities.

Incorporate these considerations and your approach to using social media for link building becomes more strategic and grounded. 

Establish a robust social media presence for your brand as soon as possible. Signing up for these platforms is typically free, and even if you don’t actively use them, securing your brand’s name on each platform prevents others from claiming it. These profiles offer opportunities to include links back to your website or main content. While the SEO value of these links might be limited, their presence can still be beneficial for directing traffic and enhancing your digital footprint. Having a complete and consistent presence across various social media platforms can also reinforce your brand’s legitimacy and accessibility.

Share blog posts, infographics, videos, and other resources that your audience will find useful or engaging. Create connections with influencers, industry leaders, and potential link partners on social media. Engaging with their content, participating in conversations, and offering valuable insights can mean that their followers see you as well. Over time, these connections can lead to opportunities for natural backlinking.

Hashtags can enhance the visibility of your posts on social media. Use relevant and trending hashtags to reach a broader audience, including potential link partners who are interested in your content niche. Create polls, ask questions, or start discussions to engage your audience actively. The more interactive your content is, the more engagement it will receive, which can lead to increased visibility and backlink opportunities.

Collaborate with other brands or individuals in your industry for joint content creation, such as webinars, live Q&A sessions, or co-authored blog posts. These collaborations can be promoted across social media channels of all parties involved, leading to a wider reach and potential backlinking. Everything you collaborate on make sure you ask for a link back to your site. 

Observe how your competitors use social media for link-building. Analysing their tactics can provide insights into what works well in your industry and how you can adapt these strategies for your brand. Keep track of mentions of your brand and competitors on social media. Acknowledge and engage with these mentions, as they can sometimes be converted into backlinks if the user has a website or blog.

Understanding and Using Backlink Analysis Tools

Backlink analysis tools are vital in assessing both your website’s and your competitors’ link profiles. These tools, such as Ahrefs, Moz, and SEMrush, offer a range of functionalities that can provide deep insights into your backlink strategy.

• Identifying Backlink Sources: These tools allow you to see where your backlinks are coming from. This information is crucial in understanding which of your content pieces are performing well and which websites find your content valuable enough to link to. Invest in what’s working. 
• Assessing Link Quality: Not all backlinks are created equal. Backlink analysis tools can help you determine the quality of the links pointing to your site. Factors such as the linking site’s authority, relevance to your niche, and the context in which your link appears are important. High-quality backlinks can significantly improve your SEO, while low-quality links can harm your site’s ranking.
• Competitive Analysis: By examining the backlink profiles of your competitors, you can gain insights into their link-building strategies. This includes understanding their most linked content, their top linking domains, and any gaps in their strategy that you could exploit.
• Opportunity Identification: These tools can help you identify new link-building opportunities. By analysing where similar websites or competitors have obtained links, you can target these sources for your own outreach efforts.
• Link Health Monitoring: Regular monitoring of your backlink profile is essential to maintain your site’s health. Backlink analysis tools can alert you to any lost or broken links, or the emergence of potentially harmful links, enabling you to take proactive steps to address these issues.
• Understanding Linking Contexts: Understanding why and how other sites link to you can inform your content strategy. For example, if certain types of content (like infographics or comprehensive guides) are gaining more backlinks, it might be beneficial to focus on creating similar types of content.
• Integration with Other SEO Tools: Many backlink analysis tools can be integrated with other SEO tools and platforms, providing a more comprehensive view of your overall SEO performance.

The use of backlink analysis tools is a fundamental part of a sophisticated SEO strategy. They not only provide valuable insights into your own site’s performance but also offer a window into the strategies of your competitors, enabling you to refine and enhance your own link-building efforts.

Broken Link Building Method

The Broken Link Building Method is a mutually beneficial strategy in the SEO landscape. This technique revolves around identifying broken links (links that no longer lead to active content) on other websites, particularly those within the localization industry. Once these broken links are found, you reach out to the website owner or webmaster, informing them about the non-functional link and suggesting your content as a suitable replacement. This method is indeed a win-win situation: it aids the website owner in enhancing their site’s user experience by fixing dead links, and in return, you gain a valuable backlink.

The process I use to do this is: 

1. Finding Broken Links: Using tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or even simple Google searches to find broken links on websites relevant to your industry. You can search for industry-specific keywords combined with terms like “404 error” or “page not found” to identify potential targets. When on page I use a chrome plugin called Check my Links to highlight any dead links. 
2. Evaluating Relevance: Before reaching out, ensure that the content you are proposing as a replacement is relevant and adds value to the linking page. The more closely your content aligns with the original content that was linked, the higher the likelihood of your link being accepted. Sometimes it’s even worth creating the content on your own site, check the waybackwhen machine for the original content if it was deleted. 
3. Crafting a Compelling Outreach Email: When you contact the website owner, be concise and polite. Clearly state the problem (the broken link) and offer your content as a solution. Personalise your email to make it more engaging and avoid a generic tone that might be mistaken for spam.
4. Follow-Up and Relationship Building: If you don’t hear back, a gentle follow-up can be effective. Remember, your goal is not just to gain a link but to build a professional relationship that might lead to more opportunities in the future. I have also picked up new SEO clients this way too. 
5. Tracking and Analysing Results: Keep track of your outreach efforts – who you contacted, when, and the outcome. Analysing these results can help refine your future broken link building strategies.

Prioritise high-authority sites in your broken link building efforts. Links from these sites will have a greater impact on your website’s SEO.

Utilising Internal Links Effectively

When done correctly, internal linking can significantly enhance user experience and bolster the effectiveness of search engine indexing. A trick here is to experiment with different anchor texts and text on target pages to see if it moves the position in the search engine results. It’s your content so you can experiment. 

It’s also important for user experience as internal linking creates a more navigable website. It allows users to find related content, enhancing their overall experience and encourages them to spend more time on your site. This increased engagement signals to search engines that your website is valuable, potentially boosting your SEO rankings.

Internal links will help distribute ‘link equity’ throughout your site. Pages with high authority can pass on some of this value to other pages through internal links, potentially increasing the rankings of those linked pages. By linking to relevant internal pages, you can provide additional context or supplementary information to your users. This improves user experience and allows search engines to better understand the structure and content hierarchy of your website.

Measuring Localization Link Building Success

What can be measured can be improved. Effectively tracking and evaluating the success of your link building initiatives is crucial to understanding their impact and refining future strategies. This process involves a detailed analysis of various key metrics, including the acquisition of new backlinks, fluctuations in your website’s search engine rankings, and variations in web traffic. By closely monitoring these indicators, you can gain valuable insights into the effectiveness of your link building approach and make data-driven decisions to enhance your SEO efforts.

To expand on this and ensure a comprehensive evaluation, consider the following aspects:

• Backlink Quantity and Quality: Track not only the number of new backlinks but also their quality. Assess the authority and relevance of the linking sites. High-quality backlinks from reputable sources contribute more significantly to SEO than numerous links from lesser-known, low-authority sites.
• Search Engine Rankings: Monitor changes in your website’s ranking for targeted keywords. This is a direct indicator of the effectiveness of your link building, as higher rankings typically correlate with successful backlink strategies.
• Website Traffic Analysis: Evaluate the amount and quality of traffic directed to your site from backlinks. Tools can help you determine whether your link building efforts are attracting your target audience.
• Referral Traffic: Look at the referral traffic from each backlink. This helps in understanding which backlinks are bringing in the most visitors and engaging users effectively.
• Link Durability: Monitor how long your backlinks last. Stable, long-term backlinks are more beneficial for SEO compared to those that disappear after a short period.
• Competitor Backlink Profile: Analysing your competitors’ backlink profiles can provide insights into their strategies and help identify potential link building opportunities for your website.

For a comprehensive analysis of your link building success, the following resources and tools can be extremely helpful:

• Google Analytics: For monitoring website traffic, user behaviour, and referral sources.
• Ahrefs: Offers detailed backlink analysis, tracking, and competitor backlink profiling.
• SEMrush: Provides extensive SEO toolkit including backlink tracking, keyword ranking analysis, and competitor insights.
• Majestic SEO: Specialises in backlink analysis, offering detailed reports on link quality and type.
• Moz Pro: Includes tools for backlink analysis, domain authority tracking, and search engine ranking monitoring.
• BuzzSumo: Useful for identifying influential content and tracking content performance across the web, including backlinks.
• Google Search Console: Offers insights into how Google views your site, including backlink data and search performance.
• Ubersuggest: Provides SEO insights including backlink data and keyword tracking.

By utilising these tools and regularly analysing the indicated metrics, you can effectively measure the success of your link building efforts and continually refine your strategy for optimal results. This ongoing process of monitoring and adaptation is key to maintaining and improving your website’s search engine visibility and overall digital presence.

Localization Forums and Online Communities

Participating in localization forums and online communities can help you build credibility and potentially gain backlinks, as long as your contributions are valuable, relevant and you don’t push your own content too much.

Outside of the localization niche platforms like Quora can establish your authority in your field. Providing helpful, informative answers with links to your content can drive traffic and backlinks. Google groups is very popular at the moment (although I assume it’s a fault in the algorithm so might not last for long and it’s experiencing a lot of spamming content)  

Public Relations in Link Building

Public relations can play a key role in link building. Effective use of press releases and building relationships with media can result in high-quality backlinks from news sites and other authoritative sources.

There are opportunities within the localization industry to publish these; Slator (paid service), Gala (members only), Multilingual Magazine (subscribers). There are a long list of press release services outside the localization niche; PRWeb, PR Newswire, and, PR Zoom are services I’ve used (with mixed success). 

One method that has worked is HARO. This is an online service that connects journalists with sources for their stories. It serves as a platform where reporters, bloggers, or writers can post specific queries seeking expert insights, quotes, or information for their articles, often under tight deadlines. This service is beneficial for both journalists looking for credible sources and for localization experts seeking to increase their visibility and credibility in their respective fields.

Future Trends in Link Building

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, the future of link building is increasingly focused on prioritising quality and ethical practices. The emphasis on acquiring high-quality backlinks from credible sources, stressing relevance and authority over quantity, aligns with search engines’ advanced capabilities to discern genuinely valuable links. Consequently, integrating link building with content marketing strategies is becoming more important. High-quality, engaging content such as comprehensive guides, original research, and informative articles offering unique insights is key to naturally attracting backlinks.

The user experience of a website is also gaining prominence in link-building. Websites characterised by fast loading speeds, mobile-friendliness, and overall usability are more likely to earn natural backlinks, aligning seamlessly with the language services niche. In this sector, where helping people is at the core, having an authentic digital marketing process resonates with the operational ethos of most Language Service Providers (LSPs). It is essential to translate this authenticity into the online world, making a genuine impact and adding value to customers.

Looking ahead, the potential impact of AI on the industry cannot be ignored. As AI technologies evolve, they might significantly influence link building and content creation, offering new challenges and opportunities. In this changing landscape, standing out by offering authentic and value-adding services will be more important than ever for LSPs.