What is anchor text? The latest "buzz" term in the search engine
ranking world is "anchor text". Anchor text refers to the words
that are linked to pages within your website or other websites.
For example, if I wanted to create a link to
VegasWeddingGuide.com from the portfolio page of my business
website, I could do it several different ways.
Here are two possibilities: 1. Visit VegasWeddingGuide.com 2.
Visit our newest website for planning your Las Vegas wedding and
Las Vegas reception.
The underlined words in this example are linked to
VegasWeddingGuide.com and make up the anchor text for each link.
Why is anchor Text Important? In the past year, search engine
algorithms have become much "smarter" and are beginning to
weight anchor text much more heavily in determining how your
site ranks.
In the example above, #2 is MUCH better for
VegasWeddingGuide.com because the primary keywords for the site
are included in the anchor text linking to it. Search engines
will weight this link more heavily than #1 because the keywords
are tied directly to the link. When it comes to Anchor Text, the
words you select for links can make a dramatic impact on your
search engine rankings.
What you should do with this information... Knowledge is power
... now that you are armed with this information; you can take
steps to help improve your own website's rankings in the search
engines.
When exchanging links with another website, be specific in how
you want your link to appear. Rather than having the other site
create a link direct from your business name, take advantage of
anchor text in your link.
For example, if you are a florist in Washington DC ... Don't
send your link like this: CapitalFlowers.com Instead, do this:
Washington DC Florist: Capital Flowers or like this Washington
DC Florist: CapitalFlowers.com
The second example, builds your main keyword into the anchor
text of your link. You can use these same linking techniques
within your own website too.
If you are running online ads for your web site, contact the
companies with whom you advertise and ask if you can edit your
listing to include keyword anchor text. Taking advantage of
keyword-rich anchor text in your online ads may go a long way
toward improving your rankings!
For more information about search engine optimization, visit
http://www.MSWInteractiveDesigns.com
About the author:
Sandra Waggett serves as owner and principal webmaster for MSW
Interactive Designs LLC (MSW-ID), a website design and hosting
firm that helps small business professionals achieve an
effective Internet presence. Waggett designs and develops a
variety of online technologies including websites, eCommerce and
portal sites. Contact us to find out how We put the Web to Work
for You! Visit
http://www.MSWInteractiveDesigns.com
