In my last post, I defined anchor text and talked about its importance in SEO. Today, we’ll look at a couple ways to use it effectively.
Research Keywords.
It’s a good idea to do some keyword research so that the keywords you use in your anchor text are good keywords. I’ve written about keyword research before so I won’t belabor the point.
Use the Keywords.
Once you’ve got some quality keywords, start inserting the keywords in your post titles since many webmasters will link using the post title as their anchor text.
If you publish an exceptionally high quality post, contact other bloggers and tell them about your post to increase your chances of getting a link.
If you want to be more intentional, you can find sites that will allow you to choose your own anchor text. I use the following three methods.
1. Submit articles to article directories. Article directories allow you to insert an author box at the end of your article. In the box, you can add links back to your blog with your desired anchor text.
Sadly, most article directories are low quality in regards to SEO and many of them use the nofollow tag on your links, which renders the anchor text ineffective. I usually only submit to Ezine Articles, because it’s by far the highest quality article directory. If you have extra time, Go Articles and Article Dashboard are also quality directories.
2. Guest post. This is similar to the first method. Basically, find a quality blog and send the blogger a guest post. The post has a link back to your blog with your desired anchor text.
This doesn’t always work as some bloggers don’t allow the you to choose the anchor text. Still, it’s worth a try. Also, make sure to insert your link is in the author description not in the main body text. Many bloggers don’t allow links back to your blog in the main body text.
Also, this method works very well if you’re friends with the blogger you’re sending the guest post to, so build friendships with bloggers in your niche and related niche.
3. Buy links. If you’re willing to take on some risk, you can buy links. If you buy a link, 99% of the time you’ll be able to choose the anchor text. Just make sure do to it discreetly since Google can penalize you if they catch you.
This post has gotten longer than I had planned so I’ll close for now, but check back next Sunday for part two, which will have more anchor text tips.
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These are some really good points and I especially agree with doing some research into your keywords first, so you can get the best keywords for your post. If you are to buy links and Google can penalise you for it, is it best to stay away from buying links.
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What about using the anchor text in the own page!!?
Thx
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Thanks for the tips. Very good article. I submitted an article about my new business at Ezine Articles. I explained features of what I was doing without bombarding the readers with links. I only put 2 links within my signature at the bottom of the article that I wrote so I hope they except it. Even if they don’t, your article was very helpful.
Thank you
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So is this an effective way to use anchor text? If I had just put my name as Fred Campbell – then the search engines would have rated my site more highly for that search term. However, as I want my site ranked for ‘Web Design Leeds’ then this was the correct anchor text to put in the Name field. It all begins to make sense now, thanks for the free advice and help. That’s the thing about the internet and web development – I can’t think of any other industry where everyone is just into it, and readily share their knowledge and expertise for no financial reward. It’s really quite a hippy ideal, but it’s working. Thank you.
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There are 2 ways to use anchor text internal and external. Internal to show importance of a keyword – here is the anchor text and external, links to your website.
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99% from websites in competitive fields and ranked in top 5 buy links :)
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Great post Dee! Not only is it a great refresher for seasoned SEO’s but also a great source for newbies to the game.
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Thanks you for your advice about anchor text.
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Nice tips for Anchor text. How many anchor i use for one keyword
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Thank you for your sharing. I used to submit article to a lot of low quality directory. I did not know a few good is already enough.
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Great post on how to optimize your site for SEO. Anchor text links are very important to rank for the keywords you are targeting.
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This is a great article on how the use of keywords and anchor text play a strong role in your keyword strategy and search engine optimization. The only thing I would disagree with is submitting to a few select directories. If the name of the game is links to your site, then it would seem that by submitting to all the directories and using other strategies to build links would be most beneficial. In some cases I have found article directories that will also throw the author a bone by submitting their articles to many different directories with software they have, or through rss feeds and other methods. I’m not sure if you have looked in to this strategy, but people also use the site conduit.com to create toolbars and then submit them to software directories using the keywords they are targeting.
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Keywords and anchor text is crucial in the success or failure of your on line marketing. All online promotion must be keyword rich and unique content is another great way of ensuring the maximum link power
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This is really such great post on how to optimize your site for SEO. Anchor text links are very important to rank for the keywords you are targeting.
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This is so cool.
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This is such an awesome page!
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This is such a great article for SEO needs.
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Anchor text is the fundamental reason why link building works. One part is the link coming from a page with relevant content, the other is the Anchor itself to create the theme for your page. Still this only accounts for a small amount of a SEO campaign.