When creating backlinks, many SEOs and webmasters make the mistake of using anchor text that doesn’t sound natural. This alone probably won’t get them penalised, but when combined with other criteria like spammy websites linking back to their site or keyword stuffing, it can have a negative effect.
Inadequate explanations for the perilous nature of keyword usage in anchor text
Google is able to detect attempts to manipulate its algorithm through the use of anchor text distribution. There was a time when ranking for a phrase was as simple as having enough inbound links with that keyword as a “anchor” back to your page. These days, however, Google’s ever-evolving algorithms and methods make it so that exact match keywords are more likely to be penalised than rewarded. In fact, creating links containing only certain terms is becoming a typical link development strategy.
When should you use an Artificial Anchor Text vs. a Natural One?
Grasp the significance of natural anchor texts. Non-commercial, organic backlinks are those that occur naturally within the text and organisation of a website, and are therefore distinguished from sponsored adverts.
- Check it out!
- The phrase “more details”
- A “click here”
- “Read on for further explanation”
- etc., “check out these web pages,” “go here,” “click here,” etc.
As can be seen from the aforementioned instances, the SEO potential of such links is practically limitless.
Using a company’s name as an anchor text is simple. The following are some illustrations:
- ‘brandname.com’
- ‘www.brandname.com’
- “go to Company Name” and so on…
You may boost your search engine ranks by employing anchor text, but you need to use the appropriate kind of anchor text. The frequency with which each variety should be employed is discussed, as well.
Just what are anchor texts that use the same keywords?
You should only use these particular anchor texts as a small fraction of your overall distribution. If it’s more than that, you should be watchful, and perhaps reconsider some of your usage in connection to other anchor text.
The following are some instances of anchor text that appropriately incorporates the target keyword:
- The “red cars”
- “purchase vehicles in the colour red”
- “New York is a city of red cars”
- For Sale: Red Automobiles
- “red car pricing”
- “cheap red cars”
The perils of using anchor texts that are phrased in a keyword
Link building with keyword anchors is simple, but it’s not always the ideal strategy. Even if you discover that the term “red cars new york,” for instance, receives a lot of clicks during the keyword research phase, it doesn’t indicate that you should use that keyword as an anchor link for all of your material on the subject.
Many issues
Because it doesn’t fit the context, “red cars new york” should be changed to “Red Cars in New York.” How would the website know to link back to your page using keywords if you were gaining connections naturally? They don’t… consider which term could make a good anchor text for a link.
An crucial fact to keep in mind is that authoritative, high-ranking websites rarely use many anchor texts that are precise matches for their target keywords. In fact, it accounts for fewer than 10% of the whole.
What to do if you don’t want to use exact-match anchor text for your target keywords in order to rank
You can do in one of roughly three ways:
The Best Practices of Local Optimization
Instead of adding your exact match keyword anchors in your link profile, you should make sure they are incorporated naturally within thematically relevant material now that search engines are smarter.
The most effective framework looks like this:
- By labelling various topics and keywords with each page. It’s important to have one primary keyword per page section.
- Make sure there are two organic mentions of it on each page.
Partial anchor texts for keywords
Using a partial keyword anchor text allows you to include your keywords into more organic-sounding phrases or sentences, which can then pass through spam filters. This ensures that signals containing the relevant keywords are being transmitted while avoiding the usage of unnecessary or excessive keywords.
Some phrases that go together naturally are as follows:
- Click here if you want to read more about [your keyword].
- Please click on the link for additional information on [your keyword].
- Connect the whole phrase and come up with an original, organic variant. In this approach, you can keep your material fresh while still using keywords that search engines recognise as a signal of quality.
While this method ensures that the keyword is still embedded within the text, it should only be used sparingly; otherwise, Google may conclude that you are making up terms.
Co-Referencing Keywords
Co-Citations are an excellent strategy for ensuring that your target keywords appear close to the anchor text of a link directing traffic to your site. This is achieved by inserting non-linking terms near the link text. Co-citation examples are most effective when they originate from credible sources, such as popular websites and blogs, increasing the likelihood that individuals looking for red vehicles would click on those instances you’ve provided.
To sum up
Your anchor profile should be dominated by brand and URL anchor text.
In addition to letting you include phrases that are contextually relevant to one another, linked sentences also help you maintain your attention on the information that Google’s spiders are actually interested in while they crawl your site.
Third, if you want to place your keyword close by but don’t have much room left in your material, a co-citation is a great option that looks natural.