Anchor Text Guide ? How to Get the Most Out of Your Links

[djbaxter]

Anchor Text Guide ? How to Get the Most Out of Your Links
by Zarko Zivkovic, Search Engine People
September 24, 2011

exact anchor texts are not that beneficial as they were two years ago. A more appropriate strategy is needed in order to rank for a certain keyword now, so let's talk about anchor texts and everything that influences our rankings trough anchor text links.

1. Words used ? the words we use are probably the most important aspect of the anchor text link. If we link to a certain page with "running shoes", search engines will know that the page is about running shoes and probably sports equipment or similar, there is no chance they will think that page is about flowers, it is simple as that.
2. Text surrounding the link ? text surrounding the link also greatly influences the relevance and importance of the link. We can look at the whole content on the page as well as the sentence where the link is placed. The more relevance in the content and the sentence where the link is placed the better. We will have little use to link "running shoes" from a post talking about lost and found if we want to promote a sports shop, it would be different if we were running a bulletin for lost and found or ad site.
3. Page it links to ? Logically, the location of the link gives relevance, but the page it links to needs to be relevant to the content and the anchor text of the link itself to empower the link and make it stronger and more beneficial for us. There are also other factors that influence the value and importance of a link; mostly they are tied to the page where the link is placed.
4. Website url ? yes, even the url of the page is important, just like it is one of the factors that adds to total relevance of the page, it has the same effect on the link the same goes for:

• Domain name
• Domain authority
• Page authority
• Title tag

And also for every other factor that helps the page have more relevance. So the basic premise behind placing a link should be- is this the right place to link from and is the content supporting the link and the page it links to?

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