| There has been a lot of talk about the merits of | | | | they see the same anchor text linking to the |
| "anchor text," the technique of using keyword | | | | same website over and over. And so, it's better if |
| text linked to your website URL. For example, | | | | you pick a half dozen keywords and then vary |
| you could link "bass fishing" to your bassfishing | | | | them as anchor text to your website link. |
| website. | | | | (However, it is interesting that Google has not |
| You can use anchor text on your website to link | | | | de-indexed the sites using the anchor text of |
| to other pages within your site, or you can use it | | | | "failure" to Bush's biography ... but that's politics.) |
| with your links on other websites. This technique | | | | What's also effective is to use keywords of 3-5 |
| can be quite effective. | | | | words for your anchor text. You not only reduce |
| One well-known example of the effectiveness of | | | | the competition by using more keywords, but you |
| anchor text is "failure" -- just go to Google and | | | | also narrow your traffic to just the people who |
| type in "failure," and you will get the website of | | | | are interested in your website. |
| George W. Bush's biography! | | | | Let's face it, using a keyword like "fish" as anchor |
| How did this happen? | | | | text to your website probably won't get you the |
| Well, many of Bush's detractors put the text | | | | most qualified traffic. After all, "fish" has a lot of |
| "failure" on their websites and linked it to Bush's | | | | meanings -- you can even attract people just |
| biography. Over time, and with enough anchor | | | | wanting learn how to play the card game Fish. |
| text on many, many sites linked to Bush's | | | | But if you use keywords like "bass fishing tackle," |
| biography, now Bush's biography is listed number | | | | then you will get qualified traffic to your site -- |
| one in Google for the keyword "failure." | | | | people who actually do bass fishing and want to |
| This teaches us an important lesson. If you want | | | | know how to do it better. Even better is "bass |
| to get listed number one in the search engines for | | | | fishing tackle lures." With that, your visitors can |
| a keyword, then pick a keyword you want to be | | | | really zero in on your website. |
| listed for, and then put a link to your website | | | | Using 3-5 word anchor text keywords will always |
| behind that text keyword on hundreds or | | | | do better than one or two words. Also, vary the |
| thousands of websites. | | | | text, like "fish for bass tackle" or "best lake bass |
| But, hey, not so fast. Bush's "failure" story has | | | | fishing lures" -- use your imagination. The more |
| gone its rounds and a lot of people know about it. | | | | words and the more variations, the better your |
| In fact, so many people have used this ploy that | | | | chances to get your pages picked up in the |
| Google now has a name for it: "anchor text | | | | search engine results pages (SERPs). You really |
| spamming." | | | | don't want to compete with all of the anchor text |
| It's like so many things on the Internet -- what | | | | for "bass fishing." |
| worked for a while doesn't work as well any | | | | For best results, use 3-5 keywords in your anchor |
| longer. In fact, now Google gets suspicious when | | | | text and vary it from link to link ... |