I guess there is one thing that I am still not quite sure about. If I want to focus on the keyword "THIS" but my company name is "THIS AND THAT". What is the best way to design the link to make sure that the individual words are looked at and not just the phrase. What I mean is that it would not make sense to have just THIS as the anchor. It will have to be THIS AND THAT but will it help rankings for just the word "THIS" or does it think of the link only as a phrase. Should the link be written like THIS-AND-THAT or THIS:AND:THAT. I thought it seemed like a stupid question but I just wasn't sure about it. Your input is appreciated.
I am not sure it is a great idea using a word like THIS as the keyword in the anchor text, there are over 3.7 Billion pages that show for the word THIS. Try to think of what some one visiting your site would look for, what is the site about? If it is a variety of things then pick one or two to start with and think of the key words for them. If you wanted to still go for the word THIS then just hyperlink that part of the site name in the links you produce like this thisandthat.com I may have misunderstood what you meant but the site thisandthat.com already exists. But just linking one word as the anchor text should tell the SE that is the word you are interested in ranking for.
Use anchor text that reads naturally to a web user. NOT "THIS-AND-THAT or THIS:AND:THAT" Also the more keywords you have in the anchor text the lower the relevance for each so I would use one and mix it up. Use THIS on some backlinks and THAT on others.
all examples that you give will give different results. you must use the word that you want in your anchor texts
Let me clarify the question. The words THIS AND THAT are only used for example purposes. I am not actually trying to target those words by any means. Everything below this is EXAMPLE only. There are specific reasons that I can't reveal the exact URL and keyword focus at this time. EXAMPLE ONLY: The company is www.rugbug.com STILL EXAMPLE: I want to increase the sites ranking for the word "RUG" not "rug bug" or "bug". THE QUESTION: I will be able to get backlinks from several manufacturers sites with good PR and was just curious of the best way to write the Anchor to be sure and target the term "RUG". In my opinion the optimum way to do this would be to use only the word "rug" as the anchor but I will be unable to do that because it would probably look strange and the term "rug bug" is also a brand that I want to push but I am and have been number one across all engines for the term "rug bug". It will benefit my referral rate from these sites to have the entire term "rug bug" but I could alter the layout of the term if there is SEO benefit in targeting the term "rug" So for SEO purposes only and targeting the keyword "rug". Would anchoring as "rug bug" still target the word "rug" or would it target the phrase "rug bug". If the later is true would there be any benefit to using some type of seperator like a : or - so that it is recognized as 2 distinct and different terms. Sorry to be so long but I hope this better details my situation.
Use exactly what the user will type in to Google to find you. Will they use a - in their search query? No not likely. I would probably use around 70% as Rug, 20% as Rug Bug and the other 10% as a mix of other relevant terms like Rug Bug Company, Online Rugs etc or what suits your situation. If just Rug looks funny, you could even hyperlink it then include Bug not hyperlinked so you still get your full brand plus the targeted anchor. Never use 100% identical anchors, mix it up.