How to Use Anchor Text for Better SEO
Search engine optimization comes up so often in the blog critiques I do so I know you’re itching to learn more about getting your content found on search engines. So today I thought we’d into a little SEO tip regarding anchor text.
What’s Anchor Text?
Anchor text is a clickable word or phrase that’s hyperlinked to a web page. So if I linked to my other blog Adventuroo, then “Adventuroo” is anchor text.
On the backend, the HTML looks like this:
<a href="http://www.adventuroo.com">Adventuroo</a>
Anchor text can help boost how you rank within search engines because search engine spiders get a better understanding as to what your page is about with good anchor text. Because of that, they’ll increase the ranking strength of your content for that word or phrase.
Anchor text is important to both outbound links (links that leave your site) and links within your own site (interlinking).
Of course in that first example I used my own blog name Adventuroo, which is fine. However, say that here on Momcomm I want to rank for “blog critiques.” Well, then I should link to my blog critique page like so.
The Most Common Mistake
So have you ever linked to a post of someone’s (or your own) like this? (pretend like the underlined words are actual links):
- I wrote about that here.
- When I spotted this post.
- For more information, click here.
I know we all have at one time or another. It’s easy to do. But linking generic words like that doesn’t help anyone in regarding to search engine rankings. Why?
Say you find a great post someone wrote about making homemade pizza. You write a blog post and mention the post. It’s great that you’re giving them a backlink by to linking to them (also good for SEO). But it’d be EVEN better if you link to their blog with good anchor text:
Not so helpful: “Jane wrote this great post about making homemade pizza.”
Super helpful: “Jane wrote this great post about making homemade pizza.”
Same sentence but more descriptive anchor text.
One more example: My most popular post ever is my Comment Vomit post. Now I could link it like I just did… or I could link it with a keyword phrase like a post of bad blog comments. That’s assuming “bad blog comments” is a phrase I’m trying to rank for.
What I wouldn’t want to do is say this:
To read the post I wrote about Comment Vomit, click here.
Sometimes you may have to rearrange your sentence to make this work but for the most part, using anchor text flows naturally in a sentence.
Another Bonus for Using More Descriptive Anchor Text
So now we know that descriptive anchor text is a good SEO tactic, but what else?
It also encourages your readers to actually click on the link, which for internal links will give you higher pageviews and alower bounce rate.
Tell me which sentence sounds more appealing:
- If you liked this post, you should check out a guest post I have on SEO.
- If you liked this post, you should check out a guest post I have that covers Blog SEO Basics for Beginners.
I’m more likely to click on that second one because it’s more descriptive. Don’t ya think?
Get Good Karma
When you link to a post or web page from your own blog, be sure to practice this tip by skipping the generic words. Your bloggy friends will thank you!
If you want to really optimize your site for search engines, then consider Kelby Carr’s Mom Blog SEO eBook. This eBook is great for anyone who blogs both with or without a niche. Some topics of focus: targeting long-tail keywords, claiming your blog in Google Webmaster Tools, revamping categories and more. Grab a copy of the Mom Blog SEO eBook (affiliate link).
