It may not be as simple Well the problem I am facing is having done the keyword research for my niche I have found a few keywords that are most searched but are very short i.e first aid or First Aid Training. Now the questions is, while forum posting or directory submission do I need the anchor text specifically as First Aid training or I can use "Emergency first aid training", or another anchor text as long as it has first aid training in it, for instance "emergency first aid training at work". It may sound like a silly question but I really need help with it. Thanks
YES...anchor text should be exactly what the keyword is or backlink won't be counted for that keyword. It will be counted separately
If you want seo with keyword "unlock iphone". I think you should creat more page with long keywords as "unlock iphone 2G", "unlock iphone 3G". And then you use these page link to your landing page with keywords "unlock iphone". It 's very useful because they have same theme keyword.
You can link with as many keyword variations as long as it contain your main keyword you want to rank for.Let say you want to rank for lose weight,you keyword choice could belHow to lose weight,lose weight in a week,lose weight in 14 days etc.
Just follow the Latent Symantec Indexing (LSI) method. if you are creating an article that targets keyword1, you must sprinkle keyword1 in the article body 4-5 times and 2 times on the BIO as an anchor text.
i would advice to go "long tail" as well. Choose other keywords that describe your product and target your inner pages once you do link building. Also for the main keyword, don't always stick to one anchor, it will look suspicious to google.
I agree with kayus, If you want to target a particular keyword then you can use some variations of them.
Also, always pick one consistent word that you know will be a main attraction. As you can see, Kayus used the word Weight in all variations. Just try to think like the general public... what would they type in if they were searching for something in particular? Whats a common word or phrase they would use???