Anchor text, for those who are unaware, is the clickable text part of a link. It is a message to users and the search engines, telling them what they should find if they actually click the link. But all too often, the only anchor text you get is “click here”. This is not only unhelpful to users, but it is a total waste of a link that could be helping to boost your SEO rankings for a keyword. It kind of counts as a vote, telling Google you are voting for that website to show up for that specific term. Let us examine a few points of anchor text that makes it a powerful tool for SEO:

1. Choosing Your Anchor Text
If you are inserting the anchor text directly on your website, you will need to use the appropriate hyperlink reference tag. Here is an example of how to create your link:

<a href=”www.mydomain.com”>Anchor Text Here</a>

The anchor text portion will be the only part users can see, and will become the blue hyperlink. Some content management systems have a link button you can click to create links, rather than needing to write out the tags.
If you are posting on someone else’s website, you may not be able to choose your anchor text, so you can either try inserting the HTML, or asking them if they will activate certain anchor text for you.

2. Anchor Text Should be a Description of What You Will Find if You Click

The purpose of anchor text is mainly to tell a user what will be found if they click the link. So what are you telling the user, and thereby the search engines they will find if you use the anchor text “click here”? Nothing at all. Google uses anchor text as one factor in their algorithms of deciding what terms you should rank for. If you use “click here” as anchor text, you are telling Google your website should rank for the term “click here”, which I am guessing is not what your website is about. Try using targeted anchor text, such as a product name, or a keyword.

3. Is Anchor Text Really That Important?
Yes. Anchor text can have a powerful effect on where your website ranks. It is for precisely this reason that some malicious individuals have been able to Google bomb other’s websites. Google bombs show that you can get just about any website to rank for just about any keyword on Google, just by linking to it enough times with the correct anchor text.

The lesson of the day, then, is this: Do not overlook the importance of anchor text! It can make or break your SEO results, and can be one thing that sets you above your competitors.

Rated 0 / 5 By Users

Linx Boss came highly recommended by several of the sites ranking on the first page of Google search results for “link building” so we decided to see what they were all about. When testing them out, right off the bat we noticed several good things. For one, they have excellent videos including one right on the home page. They also have a good FAQ section where it even invited you not to sign up for the service if you were expecting to go from unranked to the front of the SERPs within a month. We like it when companies explain upfront that results take some sweet time.

As we set up our first site for back link building within their system we had a few setbacks. If you don’t watch the tutorial videos very carefully you can get lost quickly. The other thing is their interface is built on adobe flash. This would be ok except apple device users could have trouble accessing their accounts.

We’re going to watch the site we added very carefully over the next few weeks to see if they actually do anything that works.

If you have any information about this company we invite you to comment. You can also visit their official site for more information.

 

11/22/2010 UPDATE:

A couple weeks ago we started testing the Linx Boss link building service on a site called weightlosswand.com. The site already had a decent link profile, but had been stuck on the 5th and 6th pages of search results for it’s major terms for several months. We decided to see if Linx Boss could help it get over the hump. Oh and we didn’t want to make it too easy on them so we asked them to take us from page 6 to the top of the first for “weight loss.”

Today we are surprised to report that the site they have been working on for only a few weeks, weightlosswand.com, has hit the first page. We looked over the links they built and all of them look solid. In a fairly short period of time they built over 900 backlinks for us on blogs with a Google page rank of at least 2 or more.

We are traditionally skeptics in a market that certainly warrants it, but Linx Boss has certainly earned some credibility in our eyes. They are one of the few services we can confidently recommend.

Visit Their Official Site For More Info.

Gaining back links is essential to good SEO, but hours (in many cases weeks or months) can be wasted building thousands of terrible links when maybe all you needed was a hundred good ones.

What makes a link good? In terms of value, you can throw out image links right away. The most valuable links are the one that replicate themselves and come from a decent site. The easiest way to get a link like that is to acquire a piece of digital real estate on the sidebar of a good sized blog. If you can get a text link in the sidebar of another site, that link is usually replicated on every single page of that site. Translation: 1 sidebar link = as many links are there are pages of that site. This is huge. Footer links typically function much the same. The only difference being that they are not quite as prominent.

A well rounded link building campaign should consist of building several types of links. Go ahead and submit to directories, bookmark your site pages, and get text links embedded wherever you can. However, remember to put the most effort where it will do the most good. Make deals with other site owners and do whatever you have to to acquire some of those valuable replicated links. As always we’re here to help if you want to pass on some of the work.

When beginning your SEO campaign or even just expanding your current one, it’s important to define your goals and not move onto lofty ambitions before you’re ready. We recommend the three tier approach.

The three tier approach means separating your campaign into three major areas and then committing your resources to them in sequence. For example: Lets say you run a paragliding school and your ultimate goal is to obtain a top three Google spot for the term “paragliding.” Paragliding would become your third tier keyword, and you would set that on the back burner until you had reached your first and second tier goals. What are those you ask? Well a good idea for a second tier keyword in this case may be “paragliding school.” It is significantly less competitive than just “paragliding” alone and much more specific to what you are doing. The volume of searches may be far less, but you have to work up to your ultimate goal and this may be a good via point.

Now we just need to establish a starting point and choose a first tier key phrase. A good idea in this case may be something like “best paragliding school” or “paragliding school {your state/city}.”

Your campaign tiers should now look something like this:

1st Tier – Best Paragliding School
2nd Tier – Paragliding School
3rd Tier – Paragliding

As you are building links and optimizing be sure to follow your plan in sequence and exercise some self control in not going after your highest tier until you have achieved your goals for the lower tiers. When you have dominated this set of keywords you are ready to take on a new set. You could then take on a new third tier goal like “extreme sports” and come up with some new first and second tiers to help you get there.

SEO has been and always will be about strict methods and patience. If you have questions about your campaign, please call us and we would love to talk.

Link building is an important aspect of off site SEO. In many cases, once the site is optimized the only possible method of increasing search ranking is by link building, which can be difficult. Not only do you need to build links to your site, but you must make sure they are relevant and they are built consistently. Additionally, many links have to be built pointing to your site to succeed against the competition.

Viral link building is a fantastic method for building large quantities of links. Hopefully, you can build links that are specific to your site, but many times they may not be. This strategy focuses more on the mass link building aspect. Many search engine experts say that building a large amount of links in a relatively short amount of time may not help tremendously, but the links are permanent and one way, which is always an excellent quality.

The first method for building a large viral SEO campaign is to utilize social bookmarking and networking sites. Social bookmarking sites allow users to submit links of interest to them. They also have an extra added feature that allows users to rank the links through a voter system. The more interesting the website, the more votes received. This strategy can generate buzz and plenty of links.

Another strategy is blog commenting. Posting comments on blogs related to your industry can help boost your websites visibility. To create a viral effect your site has to have interesting content that will create word of mouth allowing other webmasters to link to you. You can also contact blog owners and ask them if they are willing to write a post about your site by enticing them with a fee.

Link bait is a term referring to a blog post or web page containing information that can be considered a great resource. It is content that other web masters have to link to because it is so useful. You can create this kind of content by thinking about what information people in your field are looking for. For example, if you own a site about cars, you could create a page of content listing all the different dealers in an area. Other websites will be more than happy to link to you and use the information in their articles.

The most important aspect of a viral link building campaign is that you attract attention to interesting content, as boring content will kill this strategy. If you expect people to be interested in your website you have to offer content that will bring people back to your site. A link bait page of content will be bookmarked and visited by the same people many times. People will refer others to the page and search engines will be more than happy to rank your page in the top spots thanks to all those links. Search engines are looking for relevancy and authority pages. A page with this kind of great content will definitely rank well.

Most Internet marketers have a habit of following only traditional and ordinary link building methods. They neglect the many other ways of building links that require new and clever ideas. These strategies can be used to increase page popularity in a way that your competitors will not be able to mimic.

One of these original methods comes from “abusing” large sites like E-bay. Many large websites today employ some kind of user generated content strategies. E-bay allows you to create a blog that can generate many very powerful links to your site.

Another method to consider is creating a contest on your website asking people to place a link on their blogs or websites to your site with specific anchor text. This may be a little difficult to do because you might have to be very careful with your instructions depending on what niche your in. If you offer a large enough prize you will be amazed at the response you will get. For example, many bands employ this strategy by asking their fans to place a link to their site from their Myspace or blog in return for an entry into a contest to win tickets for the band’s next concert.

In addition to these strategies you can tap into the power of pod casts. If you submit the pod casts to directories especially made for them, you will be generating great one-way links. Visit one of the many websites that can convert your RSS feed to a Podcast and you be set for this strategy.

Torrents are another very underused link building strategy. Torrent sites allow people to download all sorts of software for free. Many of these sites are not monitored and allow you to be very liberal with the links you create on the site. To use this strategy, all you have to do is create some kind of digital product. Create a short E-book or some kind of useful free software. By using Google you will find many excellent torrent websites. Read the instructions they give to submitting your torrent and then do so. In the area where you describe your download, place a link to your site. You can also add a link in your software, it won’t add to your link popularity, but you will gain some traffic.

Another method similar to the torrent strategy is to use PAD file sharing. Many websites allow people to download what is referred to as “freeware” or “abandonware. These are terms for software that was sold, but is now free or has always been free to the public. You can use the software you created through the torrent strategy and convert it into a PAD file, which is an XML type file that allows these freeware websites to easily understand what you are submitting to them. People are able to download your software in masses and you gain links from the PAD file sharing websites.

Starting an SEO company is a very difficult undertaking. BY virtue of the service being offered the only way to gain true credibility as a new SEO company is to have good rankings for SEO related terms. Since everyone in this industry is trying to rank for the same phrases and since many of them have a good understanding of how to do this it becomes increasingly difficult to rank well.

The challenge has become even more apparent now that we have obtained top rankings for the term “SEO services”. It’s not just regular website owners requesting our SEO services these days.

It always amazes me when I see a lead come through my website requesting SEO and it is from an SEO company. You would be surprised how often this happens. “SEO companies” literally want me to help them get ranked for SEO related terms. Are they really serious? Do they have no shame?

How are you going to start an SEO business helping others get ranked well when you are trying to hire someone else to get your site ranked. How can you speak to a potential client and with a straight face tell them you can help them get ranked high in the search engines when you have admittedly asked for help from another pro to do the same for you?

These are no doubt the same companies that I receive spam emails from all the time telling me they can help me get to page 1 of Google. Of course when I reply to the emails asking if they even checked my rankings or to send me the report of where their website ranks, I never hear from them again.

This is not the right way to start an SEO company. It is going to be slow at first. Target terms that are a little more specific, preferably geographic terms that you can rank well for quicker. No they aren’t going to bring in massive amounts of traffic and new clients, but slowly and surely you will build up a clientele and as your company gets older your rankings will grow and thus the business will grow.

If you as an SEO company can get your own site ranked for terms that are some of the most (if not the most) difficult phrases to rank for, then you should earn the trust of your potential clients. I literally have people tell me on almost every phone call I take, “I found you at #1 for “seo services” so you must know what you are doing.”

Build your SEO business the right way and the success will come with it.

I recently attended the SMX Advanced SEO conference in Seattle and was taken aback by the blackhat techniques being discussed.

I was actually a bit surprised at how much of it there was – some of the extreme being the praising of the completely fabricated 13-year-old’s story as brilliant marketing and statements like, “We’re not here to be moral; we’re marketers” and “You’re not going to get creamed, the site will, so don’t worry about it.”

Since when is telling a bald-faced lie brilliant marketing? And for morality I think, do you have no morality? None? You’ll just help child pornographers, arms dealers, tobacco companies, etc.? If the answer to that is “No”, then there clearly is a line that even the blackest hat will draw. So it’s just a matter of where the line is drawn, and how the line is decided.

“There’s a market for it. Somebody will fill that void. Why not SMX?”

By that logic, it’s fine to have a session on how to:
- carry out an email “pump and dump” stock scheme,
- develop a Nigerian email scam,
- get past the spam filters and send at a million emails.

The fact that there is a demand, does not mean it should be presented at a conference purporting to represent a professional industry.

I think the question then becomes strategic. Where does the industry want to be in five years?

Then make decisions according to that goal and plan. It cannot be based on “anything goes” or “whatever we can get away with”.

I think that just deepens the perception of “they’re just fringe geeks with their own rules and no morals” — which to most people with money means “jerky little twerps” — which means the companies with big money are going to go to Ogilvy for their web stuff.

I am sure that most SEO’s want to build solid, professional, long-term success for their clients and for themselves. I don’t think that comes from pump and dump stock schemes — or by making making completely fabricated news articles.

The competition to get noticed in the web world goes tougher by the day and all the potential sites fight for their place on the net. And the most effective weapon they have for utilization is the armor of SEO – Search engine Optimization.

The times have changed and the clues and tricks that were very functional till only a little while ago have been badly exposed. Google, the ace search engine does not fall for it. Needless to say, the respective sites, for their own sakes have to necessarily update themselves to be in the roving eye of Google.

Google sends spiders or crawlers on getting a keyword placement through the relevant sites and makes a statutory index of the site by analyzing its contents. It then hands the site a page ranking status depending on how well or badly the site has done its homework.

Gone are the days when a prominence of keywords in the top half or the first page of a particular websites received brownie points. Major search engines like Google, yahoo and MSN have outgrown their feathers and now gauze the fake attempts of the sites even if the latter try to use the old tactic of link exchanges.

The current SEO trends that are running the internet market are of inbound linkages and submission to relevant blogs and forums. The hyperlinks attached to major related sites do wonders to the credential of a site. Submission of RSS feeds and URLs are also of benefit.

User content on interfaces have to be seriously analyzed by the core team of a site before giving final touch to the product the site is playing on. The keywords and tags work differently in different sites and the effort has to be there in diligence to understand the algorithms of these search engines through several trial and errors.

Pay-per-clicks and bought spaces in forums and blogs have an elixir like action and such sites automatically command respect. The search engines have the requisite machinery and skill to detect which is a serious shopper and which is not. The general logic is to be rather on the former side than the latter.

If rumors are to be believed, Google’s Webmaster 3 is coming up with a very unique concept which is mysterious to others in terms of algorithmic manipulations. If someone types ‘television’, then even the sites that have the word TV in any form, maybe a part of taxi no., will come up. That will include a gamut of more such sites and a ghastly increase in results. Therefore, the task would be really cut for the sites to be on the first pages of a search.

Even on the advertising front, there are drastic changes coming up and advised to the trend-setters to be a big name in the business. The alert website programmers have to buck the trend and follow basic principles. The domain and meta tags with clear keywords are still a must. Getting approvals from other sites in the form of inbound links is very efficient and a research on keywords a very essential part.

Nowadays, a simple Google search for the term SEO yields a lot of results. And depending on what you are looking for, you will find numerous articles and blog posts giving you advice and instructing you on how to go about optimizing your site.

As a result, new Internet marketers can get simply overwhelmed when looking for the right solution. It it important to note however that, looking in the right spots, even a total n00b aka novice aka newcomer – should be able to discern and filter out the good advice versus the poor or untimely advice. But they have to know what they are looking for.

So what’s a newcomer to do? How is a newcomer able to tell who is “doing it” right? Who is the proper SEO master?

Google is the answer. Whoever turns up on page one on Google (and stays there) for a competitive keyword is doing it right. All you have to do is do what they do.

Just remember…the fact that a certain SEO strategy is out there, doesn’t imply that it is right or it is the proper way to do it. So this immediately disqualifies a bunch of so called SEO gurus. After disqualifying the self-proclaimed gurus who don’t have tangible evidence, you are left with a few SEO specialists who know what they are doing. You just do what they do. But you won’t be alone. There’s a lot of people out there who know what to do as well.

So let’s say now it is between you and about a thousand other bloggers. You all know the right strategy. You all know what to do. How do you trump your competition?

You could 100% focus on the SEO strategy. While this is not easy, remember that most of your competition will focus maybe 50% on the strategy and then divert their attention to another strategy. This is where you can dedicate yourself and breathe, eat, drink and live for the one foolproof SEO strategy that you know works. Just do it.

And remember, even though you are doing it, you have to do it right. Don’t just focus on doing something and then do it all wrong. For example, you do not want to spam Google and other search engines when trying to get your keywords indexed.

It is a lot of work. And will not happen overnight. But one thing is for sure. If you get a strategy that works and you focus on it, then there is no doubt whatsoever that in the long run, you are going to trump your competition and get the high organic search results that are the bread and butter of most websites and businesses.

Like a famous company once said, “Just Do It.”