One of the most effective strategies for enhancing your online visibility and driving traffic is link building.
Links from reputable websites signal to search engines that your content is valuable and authoritative, boosting your website’s visibility in search engine rankings. It’s been well documented that top-ranking pages have significantly more backlinks. In fact, pages ranking number one in Google search results have an average of 3.8x more backlinks than competing pages, which highlights the value of investing in link building to achieve top positions.
While pitching locally and in the country your business operates is great for securing backlinks, going global with link-building unlocks a whole new world of potential for brands. Broadening your reach overseas means more publications to target, which can potentially lead to more referring domains and links – all helping to boost your SEO efforts.
When taking an international approach to a digital PR strategy, there are a few things to consider. It’s important to adapt the tone, style, and context of the content to suit different countries and cultures.
Luckily, the brands willing to put in the work and create a tailored international PR strategy to target global publications will reap the benefits.
In this blog post, we delve into the importance, main considerations and key strategies of building links globally through digital PR campaigns.
What’s in this article:
- Why should you develop a global digital PR strategy?
- What to consider when going global with your link-building campaign?
- Key strategies for effective international digital PR
- Key takeaways
Why should you develop a global digital PR strategy?
The days of spamming your website with keywords to improve your SEO are over thanks to Google’s 2024 algorithm update, which now penalises websites that are designed to rank well, rather than to provide genuinely useful information. This is why many brands are now choosing to implement digital PR strategies to improve their SEO in an organic way.
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Digital PR focuses on online exposure and involves enhancing brands’ credibility, SEO, website traffic and brand awareness through earned media coverage and high-quality backlinks. If reputable publications use your content and link to your website, it signals to Google that your site is authoritative, trustworthy and valuable, leading to an organic ranking boost.
While there is a vast amount of publications to pitch to in the UK, it’s not always enough to keep winning the same domains every month – even if they are high-authority sites. A lot of brands have noticed that big SEO wins are coming from securing coverage and links from new domains, instead of, or as well as, getting multiple links from the same sources.
The good thing about digital PR is that it transcends geographic boundaries, allowing you to reach audiences in multiple countries. Instead of restricting yourself to a local pool of outlets and journalists, you can broaden your reach and target a much wider audience.
This can increase the number of unique referring domains which Google’s algorithm takes into consideration when ranking websites. Having a diverse backlink profile shows that your content is valuable and trusted by a broad range of independent sources. SEO experts are explaining this phenomenon as Google’s law of diminishing returns. This means that securing a link on a new domain will earn you a new root link, which is greatly beneficial to your authority, whereas every time you get another link from the same external source domain, the less value you’ll get from it.
Moreover, many publications in the UK have recently adopted new link policies which allow them to only use nofollow links or brand mentions. Naturally, the more publications you target, the higher your chances are to gain follow links. Each publication you target represents an opportunity to get your content featured and linked, and by broadening your outreach, your pitch will be exposed to more outlets. Targeting a larger pool of publications means you're more likely to encounter sites that don’t have strict link policies and are more willing to give follow links.
If your business operates in international markets, global link-building can also translate into sales. For example, if you’re expanding your business into the States, a US-tailored link-building campaign can help build your brand awareness, tap into new customer bases and get more traffic to your website. Building a name for yourself in a new country can take some time but the more potential customers see your brand mentioned in high-authority media outlets, the more credibility you build with them. Frequent exposure in reputable publications increases trust and makes your brand more likely to be top-of-mind when they’re ready to make a purchase.
However, even if you’re a UK-based company and are not looking for international sales, failing to explore global avenues to get quality international links could hinder your SEO strategy, especially if competitors have already made the jump.
What to consider when going global with your link-building campaign?
Developing a global digital PR campaign is not as simple as sending out a press release to international media outlets. It requires careful planning, research and an understanding of cultural nuances.
Pitching styles, time zones, international news agendas and language all need to be considered when looking to expand your PR outreach.
Here are the key factors to consider when pitching content globally:
1. Relevancy
As with national PR, relevancy is absolutely key when pitching globally. Making sure you understand what is going on in the news agenda for your target country is going to help inform the stories you want to be pitching and the timing of them. Not all stories are going to be relevant for different countries, for example if you’ve got a motoring story that mentions The Highway Code or a story about the current housing crisis, they’re not necessarily going to concern people who live abroad.
2. Translations
When pitching content to non-English speaking countries, some brands choose to get their press releases translated into the languages of the countries they’re targeting. If this is the approach you want to take, just popping your release into Google Translate won’t do and it’s crucial to hire professional translators to make sure your message comes across right. If you can’t make that investment, it might be best to send over the content in English, as some international publications prefer to do the translating themselves.
3. Language
It’s also important to be mindful when reaching out to other English speaking countries, to avoid using vocabulary which could confuse your messaging. For example ‘Holiday’ in the UK has a completely different meaning to the American holiday, which refers to festive periods. Also keep on top of spelling differences across the pond, for example ‘Travelling’ in England is ‘Traveling’ in the US.
4. Time zones and scheduling
Consider different time zones when pitching overseas.. What might be a convenient time to send a pitch in the UK could be the middle of the night in America or Asia. Make sure to schedule your pitch to go out during the working hours of journalists to maximise the chances of your content being seen and covered.
5. Figures
If you’re pitching a story that involves any figures, whether that’s money or units of measurement, make sure to convert them to the system used in the target country to avoid confusion. For example, if you’re pitching to Europe, make sure to use a metric system for any measurements, and be mindful of local currencies – although most European countries use Euros, some still have their own currencies.
Key strategies for effective international digital PR
Building global links through digital PR campaigns requires a strategic mix of creativity, research, and relationship-building. The key question to ask when developing a global strategy is: How can I create content that delivers value to international audiences?
If you’re targeting a specific country, thoroughly research its current news agenda and identify ways to tailor your content to those local topics. For broader campaigns across multiple countries, such as a pan-European approach, focus on content ideas with cross-border appeal — ensuring your message resonates with diverse markets while remaining relevant and adaptable to each one.
Let’s delve into the most effective strategies for achieving international success:
Identify target countries
The first step in any international digital PR campaign is to identify which countries to target. This can be based on the countries where your company operates. If your company already has a presence or customer base in certain regions, focusing your PR efforts there can help reinforce brand awareness. Or if your company is planning to launch in a new country, it would make sense to expand your link-building efforts there. Alternatively, you can target countries based on content relevance — if your content has broad appeal across Europe, you can strategically pitch to multiple European countries at once to maximise impact.
Build media lists
After identifying your target countries, the next step is to create customised media lists for each region. A well-curated media list is essential for successful outreach, and this involves thorough research and organisation. Look for local publications including newspapers, online magazines, blogs and trade publications that cover your industry. You can target national outlets as well as more niche platforms that are relevant to your brand. Make sure to keep your media lists updated to avoid hampering your outreach efforts and reducing response rates.
Do competitor analysis
If your competitors have already made the jump and adopted an international approach to their digital PR efforts, analysing their activities can provide valuable insights and inform your strategy. By understanding what’s working for others in your industry, you can identify potential opportunities. Checking where your competitors have earned coverage and links from can help you decide who to target in your outreach.
Create compelling, link-worthy content
At the heart of acquiring global backlinks is creating content that international journalists find valuable and worth covering and linking to. You can’t expect that a one-size-fits-all approach works across borders – it’s important to do some research beforehand and come up with relevant and newsworthy content ideas. A great way to encourage journalists to add a link is to provide unique data or insights – original research, surveys, indexes and expert comments, as well as visually engaging infographics can significantly help attract backlinks.
Build relationships with international journalists
Building relationships with journalists is a big part of digital PR. Because of the potential language barrier and differences in cultures, you may need to tailor your communication style when pitching to different countries. Do some research, as some cultures prefer formal introductions, while others appreciate a more casual approach. Some international journalists ignore generic pitches, so you may need to do some one-to-one pitching and send out personalised emails that show you’re aware of the journalist’s beat and previous work. Sometimes offering first access to a story or exclusive expert comments to journalists can be a key factor in securing coverage.
Key takeaways
- Expanding your PR efforts internationally can help diversify your backlink profile, increase follow links and enhance your SEO rankings. Securing coverage and links from various countries signals to search engines that your content is authoritative and trusted across the globe.
- Getting coverage and backlinks from new domains is more valuable than repeatedly getting links from the same source.
- Attention to detail is crucial when targeting different countries with your PR efforts. It’s important to be aware of local news agendas and time zones, use appropriate language and convert any figures to the system used in the target country.
- Key strategies for international digital PR success include identifying specific target countries, spending time creating comprehensive media lists, creating valuable content, carrying out competitor analysis and tailoring your communication style to build relationships with international journalists.
If you’re interested in developing an international digital PR strategy but don’t know where to start, don’t hesitate to contact us - we would love to hear from you!
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