Keywords in Anchor Text Produce SEO Power

by Brad Shorr @ Word Sell

It happens all the time. Bloggers exchange links on their blogrolls. Small and midsized firms swap links on each other’s websites. This is good search engine optimization, because inbound links, especially from high authority sites, lift your website or blog in search engine rankings.

But you are under utilizing these valuable inbound links if you don’t pay attention to the anchor text.

Here’s what I mean. Let’s say Susan Miller has a blog called the Susan Miller Productivity Blog. Her specialty is personal productivity coaching for new parents. She’s found a great niche, but she needs people to find her on Google. One day she gets a power blogger to link to her blog. Great news! Which link do you think will help her the most?

1. Susan Miller
2. Susan Miller Productivity Blog
3. Productivity Coaching for New Parents

Assuming “productivity coaching for new parents” is a good search term, it’s no contest – #3 will help her the most.

When the anchor text includes the keywords you’re optimizing for on a given page, the page will do better for searches on that term.

Clash of Online Ideologies

All this is an example of when content optimization and web etiquette come into direct conflict. It’s up to the linker to decide what text is right for their blog or website. It could be that Productivity Coaching for New Parents looks out of place in a blogroll that’s comprised of people’s names. Perhaps the text is too long for the allocated space. Maybe the linker doesn’t want to open the door to any and all requests for customized anchor text.

You’ve got to consider the linker’s point of view. You can ask, suggest, discuss – but never demand. Otherwise, you will end up with no link at all – and that’s definitely not going to help your SEO.