Top Member
SEO - Why and How to Optimize Your Anchor Texts Part 4

This is the finale and you can read part one, two and three in this series at the link below. 

Click here to read now.

You definitely want to make sure you understand why and how to optimize your anchor texts so you will reap the benefits from Google and other search engines. The benefit is targeted traffic and that's what you want from the search engines (mainly Google) and when you do what I have shared with you, targeted traffic from Google and other search engines is what you will get. Now I will say this to you.


Google cares about which sites you link to. If you link to a site that has bad information, promotes hate, or engages in spammy practices, they can penalize you.

Always check a site’s Alexa ranking and only linking to sites with a score of 100k or less is a smart practice.

 

Make Sure Anchor Words are Relevant. Anchor words should always describe what’s on the other side of the link. It's a promise to your readers.

Google uses anchors as information to learn what webpages are all about and how important they are so it can rank them in keyword searches appropriately. You definitely want to pick anchors that make sense for the link, and that will help create a positive experience for your readers.

Choosing random words for anchors just for the sake of diversity, it could end up qualifying as clickbait, and your readers won’t be happy; Google watches this too.


Using exact match anchors for internal links is a no-no. Google knows you might not have control over what other sites do, however you can control your own internal links.

If you use exact match anchors for internal links, Google will assume you are trying to game the system and penalize you. Instead, use related anchors, long-tail anchors, or generic anchors for internal links. It's okay to do it this way so you won't get in trouble with Google.

 

Randomness is good when it comes to anchor text. Your goal is to have:

30% to 40% branded anchors

30% to 40% partial match anchors

20% to 40% generic, related, naked, random, exact match, and other anchors

Nothing is written in stone here. Check out some of the top websites in your industry. See what their outgoing and incoming anchors look like so you can piece together an idea.

 

Image ALT tags are critical for several reasons.

They help visually impaired readers understand what an image is about

They tell the Google bots what an image is about

They function as anchor text

Image ALT tags should be highly descriptive and sound like a natural sentence. It used to be common practice to keyword stuff ALT tags, but Google quickly caught on, so keep your keywords to a minimum here.

Choose one main keyword and incorporate it into a descriptive sentence about the specific image.


Your job as a content writer is to pay attention to your types of anchor text, choose your words and the surrounding words carefully. As with most things SEO, diversity and moderation are key. Don’t keyword stuff, always diversify your types of anchor tags, and only link to relevant and reputable sites with quality information for your readers.

Terri Pattio
Social Media Strategist
Founder - Syndication Express

Votes: 0
E-mail me when people leave their comments –
Top Member

Terri Pattio - Founder/Owner of Syndication Express.

Creator of TP Twitter strategy and Social Media Strategist
syndicationexpress.ning.com/se-advertising

Owner of Winning Domains and Small Business Websites
home-bizhelp.com/Winning-Domain-Names.php

Click on my picture to message me if you have questions or need more information.
Non-members can sign up below to create an account. Membership is free. Join Now!
syndicationexpress.ning.com

You need to be a member of syndication express to add comments!

Join syndication express

Comments

  • Top Video Contributor
    This is solid gold. This is an added way to communicate with our 'friendly' search engines and separate us from the crowd, thanks, Terri.
    • Top Member
      Thank you for your comments George. This information is a must to know to get traffic from Google and other search engines.
  • Top Commentor
    Thank you for this excellent training Series Terri. You gave some very effective strategies on how to optimize your Anchor text and images. Showing how to most effectively use those strategies, to be found with the Search engines, especially Google. Once you get there you're pretty much on your way.
    • Top Member
      Yes Robin and thank you for reading and commenting. I'm glad you liked the information and I hope that you reap the full benefit from it.
  • Top Member
    Thank you Dennis for emphasizing my points stated in this blog posts series. Your comments are appreciated.
  • Top Commentor
    With people you always have to give a reason for them to want to follow a link. Links are about people, not search engines. What Google wants is a good user experience. If you give a good experience to the people, Google will love you, and help you rank. With every anchor text you create, think about why would a reader follow this, and will they find what is promised on the other side of the link? Most people understand by now that link stuffing is a no/no. If not, you have given them a good lesson or reminder.
This reply was deleted.