Linkbuilding in Latin America

[ScipioX]

I've started a magazine in Latin America about creative ways of making money, working from home, learning technical skills from home. We are not that spammy like other "make money" magazines, but of course we want to sell information products in the future.

So far we are 3 people.

I already have years of SEO experience but I built blog networks of expired domains and ranked for specific keywords. In this case I need more Brand backlinks and get Domain Authority.

Unfortunately we failed pretty hard so far.

What we tried:

1.) We searched for 2 infographic linkbaits that were very successful in the US, redesigned them, used similar content and reached out to around 60 websites. We offered them that we write a guest post made for their website from a professional journalist and embedding our infographic. From the 60 websites and no deal. The graphics costed us around 400$ to create.

2.) We tried to interview people (in the hope that they will link back to us from their website after the interview). Unfortunately from around 120 e-mails only two responded - only one linked back to us. We contacted them through the contact forms of their websites.

3.) We offered money for a blog post. After 2 hours of reaching out, we got 6 backlinks for an average of 40$ per link + time.

Is the whole blogging culture only existing in Anglistic countries? It seems to me that people only link out to big brands (who started offline) or they charge money.

The websites that rank for terms like "make money" (ganar dinero) have only paid- and spam backlinks. A few exceptions by people who had contacts to journalists of big magazines.

What's my strategy?

[ScipioX]

Thank You Samuel.

I wished I had someone like you several years ago.

Do You think there are cultural differences in seeding content? And if so, how do I adapt to them?

For example, we found out that people are very responsive in Latin America if we contact them on Facebook. For me contacting people on Facebook in the US was worthless because they don't check their "other messages" and it's some kind of creepy.

I already found out that it's more about developing relationships to people than creating good content (in compare to the US/Germany).

[SamuelScott]

I built blog networks of expired domains and ranked for specific keywords... Unfortunately we failed pretty hard so far.

It's probably because blog networks are quickly found by Google and penalized. See here. Today, after Penguin and more, the goal is not to build links but to earn links.

You're falling into the old trap of thinking that "SEO" is a "bag of tricks" to get you to #1 for a set of keywords. Those tricks worked years ago, but thankfully, they no longer do. "SEO" is not something you do; "SEO" is what happens as the result of good web development and good marketing. "SEO" is a collection of best practices that help you to build an online brand that deserves to rank highly.

Take the search phrase "best London restaurants." Google does not want to list results based on keywords, content, or links. Google wants to list results based what the people living in London actually think are the best restaurants.

Today, the key to "SEO" success is to build an online brand through the following process:

1. Build a great website on a technical SEO level (fast-loading, optimized for mobile, etc.) with a wonderful user experience (UX).

2. Publish original, authoritative content on the topics that would interest your audience.

3. Use public relations and social media to promote both your website as a whole and the content on the website

4. Repeat steps two and three indefinitely, and traffic, links, rankings, and more will grow naturally over time.

It's not easy, and it takes time. But nothing good ever comes quickly.

What I guess I am saying: To be successful today, think less like an "SEO" and more like a "marketer." What makes you special and differentiates you from other similar websites? What is your brand? How will you position the website? What's your messaging? Those questions are more important to answer today than those about keywords and links.

Good luck!