Optimising a website for Spain
Before you start link building in Spain, it is important that your website has the right domain name. When you do link building in Spain with a domain name from the Netherlands, it will almost never be picked up by Google. Simply because the algorithm tries to ensure that Spanish visitors receive the correct information. A Dutch website will never be in first place, because it simply seems less relevant.
Therefore, start with the realisation of a Spanish domain name. It is also good to break through the language barrier and offer a multilingual website. Think, of course, of web texts and articles in Spanish, but also English texts. This way, you expand your reach and remain relevant to your readers. Don't master the Spanish language very well? Then use copywriters who also provide texts in Spanish. They are often easy to find and don't cost a lot of money either. This way, you can be sure that your website contains the right information and is clear to the reader. Of course, the SEO rules also apply here.
Do research on the right keywords
Is your website optimised? Then it is time to start thinking about link building. Do not forget that the search volume abroad may be very different than in the Netherlands. You cannot assume that simply translating popular keywords in our country will be effective in Spain. Therefore, it is good to do research on words with a high search volume. It is quicker to let a marketing agency carry out a scan. They have the right tools to easily find this for you and determine which keywords apply to your website and how you can rank on them.
It can also be smart to use Spanish terms and expressions. The Spanish language as taught to us can be very different from the spoken language in the country itself. Just think of the different dialects in our country. This, too, can be easily explored by means of a scan.
Pay attention to cultural differences
Effective link building abroad also means that you have to read up on the existing culture. Sometimes cultural differences can cause your website to score less well. Simply because it does not meet the existing Spanish standards and values. Therefore, take a good look at the websites of various competitors in Spain. What do you notice? What is different from the Dutch websites? What content makes you jealous? Be honest with yourself and your company. Only then can you optimise your website to Spanish standards and benefit from it.
If you have a good command of the Spanish language, you can also choose to look for a marketing agency in the country itself. Or make contact with other entrepreneurs to exchange experiences and tips. In most cases, however, a Dutch marketing agency knows enough to do link building on an international scale. However, it can't do any harm to push your boundaries in this respect as well.
Is your company ready for Spain?
This is also a good question to ask yourself. Is your company actually ready to cross borders and make itself visible in Spain? There is no point in running huge marketing campaigns if you know in advance that they will not be successful. You will have to be critical before taking this step.
Be aware that the popularity of your company in our country says little about its popularity abroad. Where the current target group might be very large in the Netherlands, it might be very small or almost non-existent in Spain. Therefore, first carefully research whether there is a demand for your products in Spain and what your target group looks like there.
You also need to think about the logistics involved. When you sell products to Spaniards, they also have to be shipped. How will you do this? How much will it cost? Is it profitable to ship to Spain? Will they have to wait very long for their products? And so on.
Don't leave any questions unanswered before you take this big step. That way, you avoid incurring a lot of costs for very little effect.
Provide relevant links
This applies to link building in the Netherlands as well as in Spain, but we cannot leave it unmentioned. It is not only important how many links point to your webpage, but also what the quality of these links is. In fact: quality is really more important than quantity in this case. Therefore, make sure that you make enough contacts in Spain and discover websites and blogs that are relevant to your website.
For example, have you recently started renting out cottages in Spain and have you set up an entirely Spanish site for this purpose? Then it is best to do link building through blogs that are relevant for this. Think of a Spanish blog about holidays or a site with tips in the vicinity of your accommodation. The more relevant the source on which a link is published, the more effect this will have on the quality score in Google. So you do not post a link on a blog full of health products to your holiday home. That is irrelevant to your website and will not yield much.
Some people try to take shortcuts by suddenly buying a large number of links through advertisements that are then placed on websites. This seems easy, but will be ineffective. On the contrary. When Google notices this as spam, it will lower your quality score and that of the source. This makes it even more difficult to become visible in Spain. Therefore, take your time and make sure that your links are only placed on qualitative, relevant websites.