Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
Can Foreign Language Backlinks Be Valuable?
-
I've done a lot of searching on this subject, but I keep seeing conflicting answers.
Are backlinks from foreign language websites valuable?
For example, a travel website in English picks up a couple backlinks in Indonesian language (and other languages) from foreign sites that have a DA of 60-70 or higher.
The topic is partially related, but the language is totally different.
Would those links still be valuable for the English website's DA?
Has this ever been answered conclusively?
Thanks
-
@backstagecreat DA is not a direct correlation in terms of the ranking power of a backlink. I am afraid the above mentioned is incorrect.
-
@backstagecreat This is completely incorrect.
The DA score is nothing but a 3rd party measurement and is not a direct correlation of a backlinks SERP impact.
A website with a MOZ DA score of just DA20 can provide much higher rank impact then a MOZ DA40 backlink depending on many other factors.
The DA score in the light you have announced it is meaningless and bad advise.
The DA score or the "Higher The DA" has nothing to do rank power of a link.
The rank power depends more on the type of referring domain either that being the niche or domain trust.
This is explained further
You own a hairdressing website and you get a DA40 link from a lawnmower shop website.
You also then get a link from a different website. This website is DA10. But its actually another hairdressing shop that linked to you.
The DA10 link is going to give much large ranking impact than the DA40 link
DA is just a way to measure things. It is in no way a reflection of the ranking power of a backlink.
I hope this clears up the conflicting and incorrect information made in backstagecreat comment
-
@lynnpatchett Backlinks are a cornerstone of SEO. However, not all backlinks deliver the same value. Links that are higher on a page or from pages with a higher DA will help your website rank better in Google's search results. You can use this information to build higher-quality backlinks.
-
@abdoselim2050 I disagree. Not every backlink has actual value.
These include.
-
Links on noindex pages.
-
Links from noindex spam blogs
-
Links that Google will choose to totally ignore
-
Links from highly spammed and high OBL pages.
-
If a indexed nofollow link is on a page that's never visited
There are many useless hyperlinks out there on there internet some which I have not mentioned here due to he list becoming to long.
-
-
@david5675 Of course they are mate. Google does not care about the origin or language of the site you get a link from. They look first at the niche, the topical relevance and the domains overall authority and trust. As most optimisation pros are aware there is over 200 factors the major search engines base there algorithms on. Google automatically translates the content so it makes no difference in respect to the foreign language.
So can they be valuable. The answer is it makes no difference so yes they are. As long as language and topical relevance translates into the same niche and the page has a low OBL at not spammed to death your good to go.
Many foreign language sites have huge SERP impact. This is why I personally like to target some of my outreach to these sites due to the fact some of them are actually interested in getting an English point of view on certain topics. Furthermore, looking back at the 200 factors Googles evaluates a website with. Diversity is one of them.
-
That's an interesting question indeed. I never saw a conclusive study on this topic, however, it seems that the answer would be: unique, genuine, high quality links will always be of use, especially if the topic of the page is relevant (just like in the example with foreign travel communities linking to travel websites in English) even though it would provide less value because of the anchor and surrounding text being in other language. How exactly less, that's still questionable. I would not concentrate on acquiring such links deliberately, but would not fight against them as well.
-
Every backlink has value, nothing is without value
However, the earned value varies from one link to another
Get backlinks from more than one language - This increases his strength and chances of appearing in the first ranks -
Hi,
This kind of link is pretty common, especially in the travel/tourism industry where lots of foreign language sites discussing holiday destinations etc give links out to relevant sites that are not necessarily in the language of the original article. If it is a freely given link from a somewhat relevant page then it certainly would not hurt, if it is a link that you are outreaching for then I would personally concentrate on other options that are in the same language as your website, Hope that makes sense

Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Backlinks from The Sun, New Yor Post, etc...
Hello there, Some of my competitors have backlinks from very well-known newspaper websites like New York Post or The Sun. And it is really obvious that their backlinks are paid ones. On these news websites, they don't talk about ghost writing stuff or "partnership" for backlinks. They only write about banner advertising. So I was wondering how they can get a backlink from them.
Link Building | | Veptune
Do some writers sell those backlinks somewhere else, under the table? Are they in contact with SEO agencies who paid them and if this is the case, does their "manager" know it? or does the company directly have partnerships with SEO agencies? Basically, how to get a backlink from the NY Post or The Sun ? Thanks0 -
How To Increase DR/DA Fast(in Month)?
i am a freelancer and doing SEO for 3 years, and i have many clients that want to increase their low DA site to like DA 80+, i've explained the concept of DA etc, but still they are intreseted in doing this, and i know the White HAT SEO only, so i am looking for a person that know how to incresease website fast like in month or even in weeks, this is my happy magazine that i like to increase DA.
Link Building | | mohammadrehanseo0 -
Chat GPT
I want to get your thoughts on Chat GPT for creating articles on my site to drive SEO. Does Google approve of this type of content or not? I seems quite good quality - I suppose a key question also is: is it duplicate content? I have used on Propress website and also on blog sites so need to understand if this will reduce my rankings. Thanks
Content Development | | Katie231
Matthew1 -
Unsolved Inaccurate backlinks being listed in Moz campaign
Moz keeps saying that these websites (amongst others)... https://toolszap.com/
Moz Tools | | JCN-SBWD
https://www.findwallpaperhd.com/
https://onlinecoursesschools.com/
https://www.tonzo.com/ ...are linking to one of my client sites at https://www.scamblermusic.com The websites in question clearly aren't related and aren't linking to the site, and there's no reference to Scambler Music anywhere in the source code. Why does Moz keep listing backlinks that simply don't appear to exist?0 -
Ahrefs Backlinks VS Moz Backlinks
HI Team and members We have website related to jobs in Pakistan and we purchased 5 niche edits backlinks to a specific page " MES Jobs 2021" In ahrefs it show only 2 backlinks to that page but in moz 0 backlinks but in actually there are 5 links. Why this happen in moz? We actually love this tool used for Keywords research for jobs in Pakistan find some cool keywords using moz but we facing backlinks issues in it.
Link Building | | AliHassanbinali1 -
How much time does it takes for a backlink to get registered in Google? My basketball anime website has been live since start of this week and Google has not registered any backlink.
So my website https://www.animedhfa.com/basketball-anime/ about basketball Anime has shown no changes in DA or backlinks. It has been 5 days perhaps since it went live.
Link Building | | ahmad74750 -
Can affiliate links benefit or hurt my seo?
I have just signed up with a company to do affiliate marketing for my site. I am now in the process of reaching out to publishers and seeing who will publish my link on their site. Is there any benefit in terms of seo for having these links, and can there be any potential downside to these links as well?
Link Building | | whiteonlySEO0