The Maine SEO Blog

A while back, I wrote about the importance of anchor text. To bring you up to speed, the words I just linked (“importance of anchor text”) are anchor text. Anchor text is the words you use in a link. That post will go into a little detail about the importance of anchor text for users and search engines.

But there’s a hidden reason anchor text is so phenomenal: for the skimmer.

That’s right, the skimmer. We all do it – we read ingeniously entitled blogposts and articles, skimming through for interesting information.

With anchor text placed naturally and intuitively, you can take advantage of the skimmer (in a good way). How can you make a difference? Use anchor text.

Think about it: if you link “click here”, the skimmer will have no context for what that link goes to. But a link that says “Click here for a free, no obligation SEO consultation” will let the skimmer know exactly where they’re going.

Likewise, bold, italicized, bullets, and headers can draw in the eye of the skimmer. If a click to contact you, sign up, or buy is the goal…make sure your anchor text makes it happen.

Nicki Hicks
Sneaky Skimmer

Anchor links aren’t for everyone or every website. However, a short list linked to anchors sections below can be incredibly helpful for readers. We use it on our SEO page like this:

With frost eminent, and more lettuce (and other assorted vegetables) than I know what to do with, I searched for “can you freeze lettuce” (knowing full well that even if you could, I probably wouldn’t want to anyway).

When I searched, I found this result (which told me I could indeed freeze it, but the taste would be compromised), accompanied by an even cooler discovery: an extra link to the anchored section I was looking for!

I’m not sure if this is a new development or not – as I’ve never seen or heard of it before. [Update: Because it is new!] But it just goes to show you – those anchors are important!

Nicki Hicks
Won’t ANYONE take this zucchini?!?!

…that is the question.

Extra Google Results

Typically, Google will show one website per result – possibly with a second, indented result (should it apply). With a separate blog domain, you could theoretically take up four spots out of the 10-pack. That’s 40% of the first page, folks.

Anchor Text

Most of the time, people will link to a blog using the name of that blog. When you’ve got a keyword rich domain and matching title, that comes in handy; for, as we know, anchor text is mighty important.

Keywords

SEOs will go back and forth on the argument about keywords in domains and URLs for all eternity. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: if you can choose, go with a keyword rich domain and URLs. If you’ve already got an established domain with not-so-keyword-rich URLs, never fear. You’d do more harm than good renaming them.

Nicki Hicks
Go for the separate domain

My boss has recently been interested in the benefits of using LinkedIn – his most recent blogpost being about the advantages for small business people and entrepreneurs using LinkedIn.  In addition, I recieved an email from LinkedIn this morning about their newest addition: LinkedIn Applications.  So, I figured it’s high time I do a little investigatory work myself…

The first thing I noticed – while Facebook profiles will, more often than not, outrank it; searches for people with LinkedIn profiles will rank incredibly high (usually the first page).  My profile, for instance, is the fourth result in a search for my name, the fifth being a SERP for my name in LinkedIn:

So…what does that mean?  In all honesty, not all the much.  I mean how many people search for my name other than me?  The catch: searching for your friends, colleagues, classmates, or even businesses.  Say I was searching for the Via Group – an advertising firm right here in Portland.  (Admittedly, they just connected with me on LinkedIn.  But let’s say for the sake of argument I was searching for them.)  Their LinkedIn profile is ranked eighth in a search for “via group”.

Pretty powerful.  Another cool thing about LinkedIn?  They follow THREE of your links! (Most social media sites will usually give you an area to add links for your business, blog, what have you; but will nofollow them.)  For example, my Facebook links are nofollowed (SeoQuake will strikethrough nofollowed links):

Conversely, my LinkedIn profile not only follows my links, but also allows me to choose my own anchor text – even more powerful:

Moral of the story: If you don’t already have a LinkedIn profile (whether personal or business), get one!  And while you’re at it, follow me -

Nicki Hicks
Find me on LinkedIn

In a word, yes. Allow me to clarify by saying that anchor text is the actual word or words you use to link to other web pages (whether your own or external ones).  That means anchor text can only be a text link (so images don’t count); text links are found primarily in the navigation and copy of a web page.  Although image links do not have anchor text, they can have alt tags which, arguably, hold some search engine clout.  But that’s a topic for another time.

How do web users read web sites?

You might ask yourself – what does this have to do with anchor text?  Well, a lot actually.  You’ll see below that users look for links to click on when scanning pages.  This is important to note because adding descriptive, keyword rich links will help your users in their decision to click or not!

Navigation Anchor Text

Navigation and copy anchor text, while both anchor text, must be treated differently.  First of all, many SEOs believe that anchor text in the navigation holds more weight than that in the copy.  Therefore, you want to place your richest keywords there.

That being said, links still need to be user-friendly before search engine friendly and therefore be titled intuitively.  In other words, you want the links in your navigation to make sense – many are standard (like About Us and Contact).  Finally, there is an issue of space – so be sure the links in your navigation are short and sweet – you do not have the ability to even think about keyword stuffing here!

Copy Anchor Text

The fact of the matter is that while you do not want too many links within your copy, a good smattering is nice.  Even more importantly are the keywords you use for the links – they should be natural.  When writing, I tend to write everything first, noting where I want to place links.  Afterward, I’ll go through and choose the best set of words to use as links.  That way, I’m not consciously choosing which words to use for links.  At the same time, if no good words present themselves, I’ll add in good keyword rich anchor text.

Like navigation anchor text, those in the copy must still be titled intuitively.  However, let’s get away from the “click here” or “contact us” links, shall we?  When indexed by search engines, those don’t help anyone!  Take the opportunity to increase your visibility with a link like “Find out how to increase your Search Engine Visibility” or “Contact flyte for a free Search Engine Optimization consultation”.

Please don’t misunderstand me.  Entire sentences should typically NOT be anchor text.  However, the important words should be!

So…how do we know anchor text is important?

Well, for one thing, Google has even been reporting the matter for over a year now in their Webmaster Tools.  Plus, since Google holds their PageRank algorithm in such high esteem, we’ve learned that anchor text that is also important.  When asking for links, it is always good to suggest which keywords and phrases to use.

For help with deciding which anchor text you should use, contact flyte.

Nicki Hicks
Link Master