Backlink from foreign language websites good for SEO

[joeko]

I was wondering if backlinks from foreign language webistes can help me in ranking?

For example: I ve got website in slovak language and I would place article with backlink on the foreign language website.  In which language should be the text surrounding the keyword?

[zeepartner]

there is definitely less value in foreign language links. it depends a bit on the language though. if the links are czech it's not as bad since that happens quite often naturally. the main point is that the main amount of links should come from the language you want to rank for.

[EricPratum30]

Think about it like this. The average visitor to your site is going to speak Slovak, right? If you link to a page in English, or Russian, or Urdu, or whatever, the search engines have to make a judgment call about the likelihood that a visitor to your page will find that linked page valuable. My guess is that they would value a link to a page written in a similar language or English more than a link to a page written in a very different language because the average visitor to your site speaks Slovak, probably has some knowledge of related languages, and might also be able to read English, but they probably aren't able to read Kazakh or Spanish.

The reason I say that is that Google knows that my site, for example, is written in English, but that I talk a lot about French and German, so there's a good chance that people that visit my site have at least a passing knowledge of those languages, so if I write a blog post about a new German movie and then link to a review of it in German, I would guess that that link would pass more equity than if I linked to a review in Chinese because a link to a Chinese review holds no value for my average visitor.

[Jeepster]

Similarish-question to Jozef Majda:

I run website about Italian real estate that's written in English (and 99.99% of the links are in English). I have the opportunity to get a link on a partner's Italian-language website, where whatever anchor text she chooses will be in Italian. Is this of any use to me?

[zeepartner]

Are you targeting the Italian market? If yes, then this link is valuable to you since your business happens in Italy. It's also perfectly natural.

But either way, you might want to consider having at least some main pages translated to Italian if that's where your business is. Also, it would give you a nicer landing page to point the Italian link to.

[Jeepster]

No, our market is almost exclusively non-Italian. I see where you're coming from with the idea of translating certain pages into Italian, but only something like 0.01% of our clients are Italian, so -- at this stage -- I'm not sure it's worth it.

[ZephSnapp]

So my perspective is similar to what everyone else here is saying, but I still feel like I can add something to the conversation.

If you believe that the future of links has to do with co-citations (as described by Rand in this WBF) then language HAS to be a factor.

http://www.seomoz.org/blog/prediction-anchor-text-is-dying-and-will-be-replaced-by-cocitation-whiteboard-friday

We already knew that anchor text was being devalued,  but the words surrounding that anchor text will also have an effect.

Having said all that, those links would still signal some kind of authority, right?  For example, CNET probably has links from 50 different languages.  As long as the sites are authoritative that has to be a positive signal on some level.

I'd say, as long as the link doesn't cost you anything, go for it.  It won't hurt.  And if you write a great  landing page in Italian it could be a good long-term investment.