Covering aspects of internationl linkbuilding related issues including stuff like TLD usage, strategies & more.

1. International
Linkbuilding
The International Seach Summit, Munich
March 2012
Bastian Grimm, CEO & Founder, Grimm Digital

2. About me
 Background: PHP & Java
– Developing CMS, Shops & Forums
– Wazap! Game Search Engine
 Online Marketing since 2004
– We do: SEO strategy consulting, in-
house trainings, WordPress SEO
and intl. link-building campaigns
 Links, Links, Links…need some?
 As well as…
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3. Get the slide deck…
http://gdig.de/iss12
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7. Local? Global!

8. Let’s talk about:
Link Characteristics

9. #1 Domainname
Domainname:
 Country specific top-level
domain (ccTLD)
 Example: de, fr, dk
 Geo-targeted by default
Geo-Targeting Google-style: http://gdig.de/iss03 9

10. #1 Domainname
Domainname:
 Generic top-level domain
(gTLD)
 Example: com, net, info
 Non geo-targeted
(no pre-selection made)
Worth reading: http://gdig.de/iss02 10

11. #2 Webmaster Tools
GWT Settings:
 Hand-set a custom geo-target per
(sub-) domain / path.
 What you need to know: Invisible
from outside of GWT!
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/siteoverview 11

12. #3 Location
IP address:
 By “tracing” back, it resolves to
approx. geographical target
 In addition: Reverse DNS & DNS
Geo-Extension
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13. Get it now: WorldIP
 Firefox Plug-In providing all geo-
related details at-a-glance:
– Hostnames & IP-addresses
– Cities & countries
– Reverse DNS, hosting providers, datacenters, etc.
 Get it here: http://gdig.de/iss01
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14. #4 Language
Language parameters:
1. Language of anchor text
2. Language of surrounding content
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15. #5 Language Meta Tag
 The Meta Language Tag:
– <meta name="language" content="fr" />
 Country & language combined:
– <meta name="language" scheme="rfc1766" content="fr-BE" />
 RFC 1766
– Allows setting-up advanced language
targeting parameters like:
„language-REGION“
– Main goal: Targeting country & language
with proper accent settings.
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16. OMCap 2011 - Online Marketing Konferenz Berlin
13.10.2011 Bastian Grimm, Grimm Digital – International Linkbuilding 16

17. #5 Language Meta Tag
Taken from: http://gdig.de/iss04 17

18. #5 Language Meta Tag
“We generally do not use the
language and country meta tags.”
John Mueller, Webmaster Trends Analyst, Google
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19. But there are some others…
 China / Baidu (~65%)
 South Korea / Naver (~62%)
 Russia / Yandex (~60%)
 Czech Republic / Seznam (~50%)
 USA / Bing & Yahoo! (~30%)
 Middle-East / Ayna
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20. #6 Inbound Link Profile
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21. your search query
Just Google it!
 Check if „link-giving“ domain & page
does rank in within target country!

22. Let’s have a look at some data:
Top-10 Rankings for “Poker”

23. #1 Anchortext Distribution: US

24. #1 Anchortext Distribution: IT

25. #1 Anchortext Distribution: ?

26. #1 Anchortext Distribution: DE

27. #1 Anchortext Distribution: DK

28. #1 Anchortext Distribution: GR

29. #1 Anchortext Distribution: ES

30. #2 Anchortext Distribution Comparison
> percentage of gambling related anchor-texts vs. brand vs. untargeted ones
US: 30%
IT: 23%
DE: 76%
DK: 33%
GR: 22%
ES: 45%

31. So, what % of
keyword links
do we need?

32. The most-popular answer in SEO:
„It depends…!“

33. Why not looking at your competitors…?
Performance benchmark vs. top-3/5/10
Because: If those sites do rank where they rank, they‘re
probably doing something right… don‘t they?

34. Don‘t get greedy:
Anchortext links are great, but too
many of those will get you hurt!
Bastian Grimm, Grimm Digital – International Linkbuilding

35. #3 Topical Distribution Comparison
> percentage of links from gambling related websites vs. off-topic links
US: 57%
IT: 18%
DE: 68%
DK: 36%
GR: 32%
ES: 53%

36. #4 Link-Type Distribution Comparison
> comparing different website types: Links from blogs, forums, directories, etc.

37. Markets & methods differ…
You need to understand each
of them, individually!

38. Markets & methods differ #1
Social platforms…
 …are still HUGE in the United States and provide
good link opportunities.
 …don’t provide any value in Germany – only few
exist & have very, very little traffic.
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39. Markets & methods differ #2
Article directories…
 …are just STONE-DEAD in Germany
 …do work well in France
 …don’t really exist in Poland
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41. Markets & methods differ #3
Pricing
 Links are – depending on quality – very cheap in
Russia or Poland
 But REALLY expensive in the Netherlands
 And: It’s completely different values for same
money (crappy footer links vs. pre-sell pages)
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42. What you need to do:
I. Think local (but don’t forget the big picture!)
II. Built up per-market specific knowledge
III. Hire locals to do market specific tasks
IV. Consider, that
I. budgets & prices will differ
II. values & quality being delivered will differ
III. impact of methods & results will differ
V. Learn and repeat…!
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43. OMCap 2011 - Online Marketing Konferenz Berlin
That’s it! …
13.10.2011
Wait, still not enough?
Bastian Grimm, Grimm Digital – International Linkbuilding 43

45. Thank you! Questions?
mail@grimm-digital.com
twitter.com/basgr
linkedin.com/in/bastiangrimm
facebook.com/grimm.digital
Bastian Grimm, CEO & Founder, Grimm Digital