[Build Backlinks Online] #MozCon Speaker Interview: Aleyda Solis

Build Backlinks Online has posted a new item, '#MozCon Speaker Interview: Aleyda
Solis'


Posted by LindsayToday Iâm pleased to bring you Aleyda Solis, Madrid-based
International SEO at SEER Interactive, a Moz Associate, and State of Search
blogger. Weâre excited that sheâs bringing her international
perspective to MozCon, where sheâll lay out how to make the bold but
lucrative move into the international market. You definitely donât want to
miss her talk, âInternational SEO and the Future of Your ROI,â if
youâre interested in growing your online business.



Tell us about the presentation you have planned for MozCon.
Itâs going to be an exciting adventure, guiding the audience to discover
their international SEO potential and what could be the future of their ROI.
It will be beyond the "ccTLDs vs. subdirectories for country targeting" type of
session (although best practices with examples and tactics will be also shared).
Itâs meant to answer frequent questions I get from strategic, operations,
and business perspectives, like: âHow do I connect with international
audiences and develop an attractive offer and assets when I donât even
speak the language or know anything about the country?â Or, âHow can
I develop original, localized content for all of these non-English websites if I
donât have enough resources?â
If this is an issue for your business, then itâs highly likely that your
international SEO strategy wasn't planned and established well enough from the
beginning, allowing your investment to become cost-effective and scalable in
foreign organic search markets.
I started to cover international SEO from this perspective in a SEER post I
wrote about establishing an international SEO strategy.
Why would it be unwise for someone to miss your presentation?
Because I will be giving away delicious Iberian ham that I will be bringing from
Spain to selected audience members in my session! :D (Iâm kidding!)
I really wish I could do that, but unfortunately it is forbidden by US Customs.
(Nonetheless, you might want to ask for a change in customs law to make it
friendlier to Spanish gastronomy so I can do that in the future.)
Seriously, though, it would be really unwise to skip my session because I will
be sharing what could be the next step to grow your online business. You
definitely donât want to miss that.
What types of businesses should be thinking about international SEO, and why?
All businesses that might have an audience in other countries or that speaks
other languages should be thinking about it.
Sometimes people think that only huge businesses that already have a
multinational physical presence should be thinking about an international web
presence and search marketing activity. But this is far from true and is just
myopic. For more, take a look at this Moz post I wrote about discovering your
international online potential.
Regarding international SEO, what is the most unexpected thing you've learned
along the way?
Maybe not unexpected, but unfortunately usually overlooked: The characteristics
of audience behavior in each country.
Beyond language differences, there are many cultural, economic and sociological
factors that can affect the success of many aspects of your SEO process, like
the level of response from a link-building campaign, for example. At the end,
beyond search engines that serve as a bridge, SEO is about the people.
You can have a better understanding of what Iâm talking about in this post
I published at State of Search about different aspects that drive an
international SEO industry and audience research.
What do you do at SEER Interactive?
My activities at SEER are quite diverse: On one hand, Iâm helping to grow
the international SEO business, giving SEER more visibility by speaking at
diverse events in Europe, identifying and validating leads, giving pre-sales
support, and establishing and coordinating the best organization and processes
for international SEO. On the other, Iâm also developing and helping to
implement international SEO processes for current clients.
Tell us about the places you've lived.
Iâm from Nicaragua, a small, tropical country with a lot of volcanoes,
lakes, and beaches on both the Pacific and Caribbean coasts in Central America.
Nicaragua's natural landscape is breathtaking; hereâs a photo of Momotombo
Volcano (one of the 12 volcanoes on the Pacific coast of the country):


Photo from Flickr (under Creative Commons):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/garrettziegler/7355295166/
I grew up, studied, and worked there until I left to study in Salamanca, Spain
in 2006. Itâs a beautiful student town full of history, with students from
all over the world (a lot of people go there to learn Spanish). Itâs also
home to the University of Salamanca, the oldest university in Spain (where I
went to study), which was founded in 1218. Its front building looks like this:

Photo from Flickr (under Creative
Commons):http://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/3855579280/
I ended up staying in Salamanca after finishing my studies, and got my first SEO
job at an online marketing company. I lived in Salamanca for a bit more than 4
years â until I came to Madrid, the city where I live now.
I came to Madrid after accepting an SEO manager position at a company here at
the end of 2010. Madrid is an amazing place, since it has the great alternatives
that big cities offer, and at the same time allows you to have a good quality of
life. Hereâs a view of Gran Via, one of the mainstreets inMadrid:

Photo from Flickr (under Creative
Commons):http://www.flickr.com/photos/nico_/6887000482/
What is it about Madrid that keeps you there?
Madrid (followed by Barcelona) is where most of the bigger types of business
activity happen in Spain, from trade shows and professional networking events to
a wide range of cultural activities. Thereâs also good weather
(thereâs always sun, although it might be a bit cold during winter) and
great culinary offerings (delicious tapas everywhere!), so Iâm happy here
at the moment. Although, of course, Iâm quite open to experiencing new
places to live in the future. I love to travel and experience new cultures.
Are you doing what you thought youâd be doing when you were growing up?
I had the somewhat common âdreamsâ among children of being an
astronaut (I reallyjustwanted to go to space, it wasn't necessarily because I
knew what an astronaut actually did). So thatâs really a pending point in
my life: going to space! I definitely need to start saving more for that.
What is the last thing that you have seen/heard/experienced that has inspired
you?
Iâve recentlyhad two experiences that have been inspiring in different
ways.
A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to go to Israel to speak at KahenaCon
and had the great opportunity to spend a Saturday walking around Jerusalem Old
City. It was a truly inspiring experience, seeing places with such a rich
historical and also religious background, like the Western Wall, the Holy
Sepulchre and Dome of the Rock. Even if Iâm not religious myself, it was a
somewhat magical experience.

Photo from Instagram: http://instagram.com/p/Zucpg1N8yT/
Another (and totally different) inspiring moment happened a week ago when I had
the chance to try Google Glass. I felt like I was already living in the future,
interacting with that small, translucent movie theater-like interface in my
glasses with just my voice. Truly amazing.

Photo from Instagram: http://instagram.com/p/Z8tuxJt8yd/
What is the best piece of advice youâve ever been given?
To ask myself âWhatâs the worst that could happen?â when
Iâm making an important or scary decision. This question allows me to get
my risk-averse considerations under control, and gives me a great opportunity to
start assessing a new situation with more balanced criteria. By asking this,
Iâve been able to go out of my comfort zone more frequently and live new
experiences.
Thank you, Aleyda! It was great to learn a bit about your background and how
international SEO matters for all types of businesses, not just the big
multinationals.
If, like us, you just can't get enough of Alyeda, you can find her as@aleydaon
Twitter (where she juggles Spanish and English).
Still don't have your #MozCon ticket yet? Reserve your spot now!



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