Anchor texts are commonly called as links. Links are clickable texts that transfer users to other sites or pages of your blog. In SEO, writing anchor texts must be done properly. I said "properly" because most bloggers do it in a wrong way. Really?
Here is a typical code for an anchor text.
If you will notice, the above anchor text tells the users something about the page you’re linking to. Hehehe. There are two types of anchor text namely internal anchor texts and external anchor texts.
Internal anchor texts or simply internal links are links that points to other pages of your blog, such as links to your older posts. On the other hand, external anchor texts or external links leads to the content of other sites or blogs. Meaning, if your anchor text is formatted in a right way, it will be easy for the users to navigate on your blog. Also, search engine crawlers will know what the page you’re linking to is all about.
Here are some tips on how you should write an anchor text "in a better way".
1. Write your anchor text using descriptive texts
How are you going to use descriptive texts on anchor? I recommend that your anchor text should provide at least a basic idea of what the page linked to is about. You may see that other bloggers and even me sometimes uses generic anchor texts like "click here", "here", "this post", "this page" and many more. Actually, it is not wrong to do that but in SEO, it has a negative effect.
For example, try searching the word "click here" (include the quotation marks). Which site is on the top page of Google result page? You will notice that Adobe.com is on the very first position. That is because most people are linking to Adobe.com’s download page using the click here anchor text. You don’t want to be indexed with generic anchor texts like that, so better choose a descriptive text. OK?
Tip: With your blog, you can help Search Engine recognize those spam websites. Simply add the word "spam" to your anchor texts. Hehehe.
2. Write texts that gives a lot of information clearly and in few words.
As I told you on number 1, you should aim for descriptive texts. It must be short but meaningful text, preferably a few words or a short phrase.
When I was on my first month of blogging, I used to write long anchor texts. Sometimes, I make a whole sentence as the anchor! Yes, it is wrong. I read a lot of tutorials and I found out that a proper link or anchor text should be short.
Tip. Using the page’s URL as the anchor text is also not recommended.
3. Links should be easy to notice and recognize
Of course, users must distinguish the difference between regular texts and a link. Using CSS and text style, use different color for your links. Why?
What if a user missed those links he deserves to see? Or, what if a user accidentally clicked one of your linked? If I will be the user, I’ll get irritated. Who wants to make your visitors annoyed, do you?
4. Pay attention to your internal links
First of all, internal links helps your users and visitors navigate your site better. Also, Search Engines can easily index your content too.
Using excessive keyword-filled anchor texts may help Search Engines but not your users. It is also annoying to see unnecessary links on a page. So avoid it.
5. Use the nofollow attribute when necessary
Are you aware of the nofollow/dofollow link attributing? Check this example:
You will see that the nofollow attribute is added on the anchor text code. By default, all links on your blog posts are set to dofollow while links on comments are on nofollow.
What is that for? Dofollow links means that you are giving your blog’s reputation and thus, adding a point to pagerank of the page you’re linking to. In short, you are sharing your glorious pagerank points and hard-earned reputation to others.
Still, it depends upon you whether you will share you’re pagerank or not.
OK, that’s all for anchor texts and link making. If I found something educational and informative ideas again, I’ll post it here. If you like this article, please subscribe to this blog using the form below.
5 Tips in Writing a Better Anchor Text
6/18/2009
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