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Higher search results are better, right? Whether you answered yes or no, there is no doubt that a first page search ranking can do wonders for your business. This is the very reason Google is so profitable. People are willing to pay high fees per click for a premium, first page spot. But what if you didn't have to pay? If there is one overlooked, easy to implement technique that can get you there, whether in Google or other search engines, it is anchor text.What is SEO anchor text?
Anchor text is simply the visible name for a link. It is also represents a powerful SEO (search engine optimization) tactic. As an example, Free SEO Guide might lead to www.thefreeseoguide.com . Free SEO Guide would be the anchor text in this case. From a practical standpoint, when creating anchor text for a link, it would look at follows in the html view of any text, wysiwyg or html editor.
<a href=”http://www.thefreeseoguide.com” > Free SEO Guide </a>
Between the quotes is where you would put the web address. Between > and </a> is where you would put the description of your link, in this case Free SEO Guide
The power of SEO anchor text links
Despite the fact that anchor text is often overlooked, anchor text can have a dramatic impact on rank. In fact, by many experts it is cited as the number two influencer amongst all SEO (insert link) techniques. Why? Google and many other search engines view links as a vote of popularity. And in essence, anchor text is viewed as a vote for a site related to a specific term.
As an example, most of Dell's inbound links (links from other sites), contain the word computer, “Dell Computers” would be typical anchor text. So while their home page does not contain the word computer often, Dell ranks highly for the search term computer thanks to their inbound links.
And some search engines, including Google, take it a step further. They examine the rest of the page on which the link is contained, asking “Does this page have anything to do with the vote?”. The search engine is seeing if you are qualified to vote. Do you know anything about the vote you cast? If you create a link for “Dell Computers” does the page contain any information about computers? In essence, the search engine basically wants to verify that you know something about the subject on which you are voting. The linking page should have the phrase in the anchor text, in part or in whole, repeated a few times. It must be relevant to the text in the link.
Choose and use your SEO anchor text wisely
When creating your anchor text, choose anchor words wisely.
- Conduct extensive keyword research. Be sure that you are choosing keywords that are highly relevant, trafficked and not highly competitive.
- As with choosing keywords, always be sure to use phrases instead of single words.
- Try to limit your anchor text keywords to two to three phrases per page.
When optimizing a page and including anchor text, there are a few ways you can greatly increase their impact.
- Include multiple links with anchor text per page. Include links within the body of the content.
- Focus on two to three anchor text terms.
- Switch up and vary your anchor text. If one of you terms is “Content Marketing”, use several variations. “Marketing through content”, “Marketing using content”, etc. If all the anchor text is the same, it will be obvious to search engines and readers what you are trying to do. Change from a singular to a plural, vary the ordering, etc.
- Make anchor text a natural part of your writing. Don't force fit anchor text. Link where appropriate and logical.
- Group related keywords near one another.
SEO anchor text and links in conclusion
Anchor text can be a strong addition to your small business SEO toolkit. Incorporate anchor text whenever and wherever you can and see your search rank skyrocket.
