Last Updated on May 29, 2019 by Numinix Developer

Of course you want higher page rank.  Who doesn’t?  To be honest, that is probably the primary reason you are reading this blog in the first place.  Higher page rank means more traffic, which means more sales which means more money which means…you see where I’m going here.  I spoke to you in my previous two articles about structuring your web page for SEO.  This time I am going to tell you all about anchor text.  You will know what it is, how to use it internally on your site, and how to use it on other people’s sites to drive traffic back to your own.

What is it?

Anchor text is simply the text used when creating a hot link within an article or web page that links to another page. For instance, if you were going to link to a page about mixed martial arts, you might use the anchor text “MMA” or “UFC” or more obviously “mixed martial arts”.  Anchor text is most effective when it is used both internally on your site, and externally from other sources linking back to your site.  The most common anchor text used is “click here”. It is also some of the most ineffective anchor text used.  Think about it:  When was the last time your typed “click here” into Google to search for a site you were looking for?  The answer is probably never.  “Click here” is like the Smith and Jones of the anchor text world(or if you’re from the Middle East, the Mohammad of the anchor text world).  It occurs much too often for you to be able to find what you are looking for quickly.  So, don’t use it if you don’t have to.

Internal linking

One way to use anchor text is for internal linking on your own web site.  It is a great way to link relevant pages together.  For instance, if I wanted to point you to my article on debunking SEO myths, I might say, “buying in to SEO myths can cost you valuable time and money”.  As you can see, the link takes you back to my article on SEO myths. The search engines like this.  It makes their robots happy to be able to get to another relevant part of your site with just a click.  A word of caution though: be careful not to stuff your pages with tons of links.  The search engines tend to frown upon coming to a page that is nothing but a link farm for the rest of your site.  Try to be savvier than that and the search engines will reward your efforts.

External linking

Internal linking is good, but external linking is great!  It is sort of like how having friends become fans of your Facebook page is good, but having strangers as fans is great.  There are a few ways to get these valuable external links.  If you have friends in your industry, ask them to put a link back to your site using valuable anchor text.  Tell them you will do likewise for them.  This is called link swapping or sharing if you prefer.  If you have no friends in the industry, find some.  You can also go to relevant blogs and link back to your site, if they allow it.  You could also write an article as a guest blogger and link back to your site that way.  When linking back to your site from other pages, be sure to vary your anchor text some.  This will get you higher ranking on more keywords, and keep you from getting penalized for spamming your anchor text.  It doesn’t take much time to think of similar words to use in order to vary your anchor text.  The reward will make it well worth your time.

Well now, that doesn’t sound so tough does it?  Now you know what anchor text is, how to use it on your own website, and how to use it in the social media world to link others back to your website.  If you need any help with optimizing your website, don’t hesitate to call upon us.  We will get the job done for you.