The Basics of Anchor Text Optimization
An anchor text as the name suggests is the name given to a text that carries a hyper link to a webpage. For instance take a look at the following sentence:
Get information on Search marketing here.
In the above sentence clicking on the text 'search marketing here' will take you to the index page of this website. This means the text 'search marketing here' carries a hyperlink to the index page and can be considered an anchor text.
What is anchor text optimization?
Anchor text optimization is the process of optimizing anchor texts using keywords to get higher rankings for those keywords in SERPs. Basically any anchor text optimization campaign would involve using keywords to link to pages having related content. All major search engines place huge level of importance to anchor texts in comparison to mere links. When we place hyperlinks on keywords and use them to link with related pages the search bot considers this as additional value to the page. For instance, when the anchor text "search engine optimization" is used to link with a page containing information on search engine optimization, the search bot considers this as an additional indication that the web-page is relevant.
How to optimize for anchor text
Anchor text optimization can be done internally as well as externally. Internal anchor text optimization involves linking to web pages within a website from other pages using related keywords as anchor texts. Similarly external anchor text optimization involves getting inbound links from websites, directories, forums and blogs using necessary keywords as anchor texts.
Internal Anchor Text Optimization
Internal anchor text optimization refers to optimization within a website. For instance if a webpage has a hyperlink to another webpage then instead of using generic words as the link text (anchor text) one can make use of specific and related keywords. For instance, let's take an example of a website that offers information on search engine optimization especially regarding 'link exchange' and 'anchor text optimization'. Here the page that offers information on 'link exchange' can be linked from the homepage as Get link building information here instead of Get link exchange information here.
External Anchor Text optimization
External anchor text optimization involves optimizing anchor text in the inbound links that a site gets. External anchor text optimization can be achieved by the following methods:
1. Link Exchange
Exchanging links with related websites and making use of proper anchor text on inbound links is the best way to optimize anchor text. A link from a related site with an anchor text that is again related to the destination page is considered more important by all search engines.
2. Directory submissions
Submitting your website in directories is a great way to get quality incoming links. Directories links are generally given more importance by search bots and are crawled more often. Some good directories in which you can consider submitting you site are yahoo! directory, Dmoz , LookSmart, Zeal, joint.com, business.com, allthebizz.com etc.
3. Participating in forums and blogs
Participating in forums and blogs by leaving keyword rich links is also a great method of anchor text optimization. Although it is advised not to spam forums/blogs as that might create a bad impression for the website and of-course the links will be removed.
4. Article Submission
If you have expertise in your field or area with some moderate writing skills, you can go in for article submission. There are many websites today that accept expert articles and to return the favor allow you to advertise your website/product/service. You can place the back-links using specific keywords that you wish to optimize. One major advantage of submitting articles is the fact that good articles get reprinted quickly leading to a good deal of exposure. Some good websites to which you can submit articles include site-reference.com, goarticles.com, workoninternet.com, amazines.com etc.
Ed Kundahl
IdeaOverTen
