At the end of October 2016, I suggested a concept of co-promotion for freelance translators in our SFT group on Facebook.
The idea was simple: translators share the links to their resources (websites, FB pages, etc.) so that we can help each other improve our online presence and promote translation services on the web using likes, shares, comments, guest blogging, and other methods.
There were over 50 people willing to take part in the co-promotion activities and I hope there will be even more inspired freelance translators after we start the campaign.
Within the framework of this concept, I have prepared a table with names of translators and links to their resources. You can find instructions on how to use this table in the Guest Blogging section below.
Do not hesitate to contact me in a PM on Facebook or via email and tell me what do you want to change or add to the campaign.
Let’s get to the guidelines. There will be several promotion activities communicated through the SFT group on Facebook. I call them ***PROMO POSTS***.
Promo posts will be pinned to the top for one day. If you see the ***PROMO POST*** title — join and help fellow translators. Each promo post will include simple instructions.
Promo posts schedule in SFT group:
- Monday: translator’s website (comments, shares, guest blogging)
- Tuesday: blog post (comments, shares)
- Wednesday: FB business page (page likes)
- Thursday: Twitter profile (follow on Twitter, like and retweet)
- Friday: LinkedIn profile (follow, like, share)
Monday
On Mondays, you can share a post with a link to one website.
When you see a Monday Website promo post you are welcome to do the following:
- Visit the website via the link
- Look through blog posts in a blog section (if any)
- Leave a comment on a blog post you liked.
- Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn with #xl8promote hashtag and a blog title (or your short comment).
- If there is no blog, just share a homepage with the same #xl8promote hashtag
- Contact website owner to discuss guest blogging opportunities.
Why commenting is important: when you publish a comment on a website, you show that this content is worth to be discussed. Comments also show a certain degree of social engagement that is good for any blog.
I know that it is hard to get the first comments for blog posts. Many readers keep idle and leave a website without posting any comments even if they like the article. So, let’s help our fellow translators to improve engagement using comments.
It will take a couple of minutes to post a comment, but this means a lot for an author who is waiting for feedback. Moreover, when you post a comment you can include a link to your website in a special field. This does not bring much SEO value to your website but Google takes this kind of links into account for the overall estimation of references to the website.
Guest Blogging
Now we have the table with names of translators and links to their websites. Feel free to look through the list and find a website with which you would like to exchange blog posts. The table is open for editing for everyone who has a link to this table, so please, do not remove any data. You can add a new line below the existing text in the table, put your name, link to your website, FB, Proz or LinkedIn page in a relevant table cell.
Guest blogging is a powerful method to improve your website’s SEO value. To learn more about this method, read this guide to guest blogging.
In the simplest terms, you ask another blogger to post your article on his/her blog and you can include one link to your webpage. This way a host website gives some SEO “juice” to your website through the link in a guest post. SEO value transferred to your website through such a link depends on host website metrics.
However, you should use this method carefully as incorrect implementation may cause penalties on the part of search engines.
To avoid this you should stick to the following: carefully choose the topic of your article relevant to the overall theme of the host website and your own website. Your guest post should complement the content of a host website and be useful for the target audience. Include a link to the relevant content on your website. Google clarifies: guest blogging is OK, but “guest blogging for SEO only” is not.
For instance, if you write about productivity tips for translators, you should prepare a new article adding value to the existing post on your website with productivity tips and put a backlink to such post into your guest post with the right anchor text.
- Do not overdose your blog with rapid backlinks growth, as this can be a signal for Google to penalize your site. Read this post about the number of backlinks.
- Do not publish too many guest posts on your blog, as this can reduce your SEO value. 1-2 per month should be enough.
Guest blogging on the SFT website
You are welcome to submit your proposal for guest posting on the SFT website. I will be posting one-two guest blog posts on the SFT website per month. Feel free to contact me with your suggestions. I will be glad to review them and publish your post on the SFT website in a separate guest blogging category. In this case, be ready to host my guest post on your website too 🙂
Please, include the following information in your message:
- The topic of your guest post (it should be somehow related to translation and/or freelancing)
- A link to the relevant post on your website
When approved, you can start writing your guest post. The post should contain at least 600 words, include title, subtitle, and one cover image (800×800 px.).
Tuesday
On Tuesdays, I will publish and pin links from your blogs in the SFT group for one day. This can be either a new post or an old one. Feel free to send links to your posts to my email on in a PM on Facebook.
When you see a Tuesday Website promo post you are welcome to do the following:
- Visit the post and read it
- Leave a comment on a blog post
- Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn with #xl8promote hashtag
Wednesday
On Wednesdays, I will publish a link to your Facebook business pages taken from the table mentioned above. I will go through the list one by one. SFT members can add their new pages to the table and I will share them in their turn. This post will be also pinned for a day.
How you can help: if you see these promo posts, you are welcome to like the business page. This is the only action required to take part in this part of the promo campaign.
Thursday
On Thursdays, I will publish a Twitter promo post. You can share a link to your Twitter profile in a comment section.
You are encouraged to:
- Visit Twitter profiles of SFT-ers
- Follow them
- Like and retweet at least one of Twitter posts
You can also check the Twitter promotion campaign that is a daily activity inspired by Erik Hansson.
Friday
On Fridays, we can experiment with LinkedIn. I will post relevant instructions directly in a Friday promo post.
I’m looking forward to starting this extensive promo campaign and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I do. You are more than welcome to post comments and suggestions in comments to this post. I will try to take all of them into account and implement into the campaign where possible. Do not forget to share this post on Facebook and Twitter!
