Given the collective experience here at the forum, I am curious to understand what people think in terms of the importance of "anchor text" = "search term you are trying to get higher rankings". I did a scan of the Top 10 competitors for a search term that I am looking to gain better rankings. I found that on average only 5% of the links contained anchor text that matched the search term and 55% of the anchor text contained the search term (5% exact anchor text is part of the 55%). So does anyone just use the same exact anchor text that matches the search term and gotten got results in a competitive sector? Or do most mix & match the anchor text? Or maybe it doesn't matter at all perhaps?
It matters. Although the links you researched currently are not an exact match for the keyword phrase you looked for, I would wager that at one time they all had the exact anchor text. When Google decided to hit sites that had the same anchor text, it's my guess this is when many of them altered their anchor text to make the necessary variations to avoid tripping the new filter.
Based on my experiences, anchor absolutely matters. But your anchor text should be varied, & it does not have to be the exact keyword phrase you are optimizing for. For example, if you are optimizing for "cheap green widgets", I would use a combination of anchor texts such as the following: Cheap green widgets Buy cheap green widgets Green widgets site Mysite.com: Widgets Site Buy Green Widgets at discount!
I am still running a tests but I have seen some major changes even in the last 2 days that make agree that the relevance is not what it was, of course it is in the algo but it's dominance has been pretty evident in the seo world and google look to have turned that large dial down a bit and added some new stuff.
I tend to agree with this view. I have noticed and will document eventually a couple of cases where the site ranks very high with very little anchor text that matches the search term.
Hi read this..http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=256 .....it will take some time but it is worth it It may give you a clue as it all started with anchor text relevancy
Mcdar's experiment page tells us that just relying on the exact anchor text for linking MAY be bad for your serp health - which led to look at this more closely. But who knows the page may come back as it has done before. Check this post where I examined a particular site that ranks well for the term "text links" and tell me that anchor text means anything?
Anchor text is important, that is a given, still. The way forward for people like myself is to see what google want, invariably what google want is for mom/pop to build sites without buying/swopping links etc If you build a really good site, keep it fresh and relevant and dont pro-actively seek rankings, you will float to the front. The challenge now is to understand this and use it to your advantage. I have watched amazing changes in the last 2 months, I *believe* I understand what is required, google wants natural results, I think they will be better, less anchor driven and I have not yet suffered. URL/Keywords are not the bling of having a high traffic site that it once was, I have watched a site that had £1million turnover be banned from the index, banned, no longer in the index, it suited me and I agree with the direction of google based on its ranking criteria.
Good example of anchor text: #9 SERP on key-phrase "Custom Web Site Design" in google.com ------------------ Unique Backlines 147 Anchor text occurrences 90 times not found 39 times web site design & hosting service - jkc publishing, inc 37 times custom web site design & hosting service - jkc publishing, inc 36 times custom web site design & hosting service - jkc publishing, inc 10 times timeout 1 times home 1 times site map 1 times preview 1 times jkc publishing, inc. custom web site design & hosting service ------------------------
I just don't think it is consistent across the board for some very competitive terms. I agree it is a piece of the puzzle for sure but just not as important as it was before.
Here's a quick check and validation of the importance of anchor text linking: allinanchor:female celebrity news You'll see that freshdames.com well positioned - then do a search for that keyword: female celebrity news freshdames.com should be way above the fold depending on what DC you're currently pulling from, probably top 5. However, I do agree that "mixing it up" is important. Further, don't be shy about doing keyword stemming tweaks with the anchor text to help IMO: webmaster forum webmasters forums etc.