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Dropping Anchor – The Importance of Anchor Text in Driving Traffic to Your Site


When it comes to optimising your website, it is crucial not to overlook the importance of anchor text. When search engines index websites, one of the key components that they look at is the anchor text. Anchor text refers to the clickable text that you see in hyperlinks which directs you to other parts of the website or to a new website altogether.

How to use Anchor Text Effectively

There are a number of ways that anchor text can be used to improve the optimisation of a website. However, many companies will not fully comprehend the correct way to use anchor text to be beneficial to their website. For example, large numbers of websites will use the words "click here" for the clickable part of their hyperlink. This is incorrect; what you should actually do is use keywords for clickable links, otherwise your site will only rank highly for the words "click here". An example of how best to employ hyperlinks can be seen below:

Bad Example – To see our latest deals on DVDs, click here (hyperlink)

Good Example – See our latest deals on hammer horror DVDs (hyperlink) 

When it comes to effective hyperlinking in anchor text, it is better to use slightly more specific keywords to yield the best results in the search rankings. For example, the term "DVDs" will be a highly competitive term and by being more specific, you increase the likelihood of your customers finding what they are looking for.

Using The Right Sized Anchor

The number of keywords that you use in your anchor text in hyperlinks can be crucial in search engine optimisation and this should be taken into consideration. This is why most companies rely on the expertise in specialist SEO companies to optimise their websites. Generally speaking, it is more beneficial to use 3-5 keywords in an anchor text as this gives the hyperlink more weight, as it were. Two keywords are still a feasible option but, if possible, they should be extended to 3-5 words. It is also a good idea to vary the anchor text that you use. An example of how to do this can be seen below:

Keyphrase = 1970's retro football kits

Variations – retro football kits from 70's, retro style 70's football kits, 1970's football kits retro style

By providing a variety of anchor text for your hyperlinks, you are appeasing the way in which search engines work and making it more likely that potential customers come across your website first. In order to get the best ROI, most companies make sure that the consult SEO experts to ensure their site is fully optimised.



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