I have read that it is better to use words that are closely related to your theme when creating anchor text for back links so as not to look too spammy by search engines. I would like to know whether this is true and if it is true, if these other words can only be other keywords that you might be targeting on the same page or LSI words that have been deemed relevant to your theme by search engines. thanks
nope, it doesn't have to related to your theme, where you heard that? search engines CAN'T see your theme, they only see codes, and they can't see pictures too, they only see the alt text it's true it might be better to have keyword target on your page article
Long tail phrases used for anchor text is one way of organic link building (not too much promotional if you are selling products). Don't focus on competitive anchor text alone. Since we know that users are typing long tail keywords.
Thank you both for your answers. May be I did not explain myself clearly enough. I am sorry Let's say I have a site that is promoting different golf balls and my domain in wwwdotgolfballsdotcom. I also know that the SEO competition is fairly weak for my main keyword "golf balls" and that I have a good chance to get on page 1 of Google for that term. I build a site with the home page obviously targeting the keyword "golf balls" and other pages each targeting a different colour of golf balls. I decide to start promoting my site through article marketing. My question is should I only be creating anchors with the term "golf balls" all pointing to my home page only Or should I mix and match my anchor text with different related keywords. As I am allowed at least two anchors by most directories, maybe do some with "golf balls" pointing to my home page some with "pink golf balls", "blue golf balls" etc.. to my other pages
Mix and match your anchor text with different related keywords, and spread them out to the whole of your website. Don't just target your home page, target your inner pages, and allow some deep links too.
I like your golf ball example. I'm curious about the same concept for my site as I'm just starting to build links and write articles, etc. I've been using a mix of keywords, with about half having the exact keyword (golf balls) and the other half with a mix of other text (golfing, lower golf scores, etc.) to make it more natural. Does anyone know a good ratio to target that mix on links?
By the way, I'm getting equal hits on both, although I'm not sure if that matters yet. The better learning I'm betting is what article titles people view more.
Deep links are very good to have to your other pages. If you have some pages that are different topic but related to same overall category, you can focus on other keywords for them. I often focus on about 4 per page. I will include pictures with alt text with those key words, obviously the keywords themsleves on the page in bold or <h1>. Put the keyword in the title. Naming the page itself the keyword I think may help too. Then go build links in forums/blogs and on the internet with those keywords going back to that specific page. Of course if you can buy a domain with your keywords in the name itself, that always helps too, though of course takes work you won't come up #1 just because of that.
I have done some further research, and it looks like the site that I am building is what is called a "mini site" as compared to an "authority" site. Basically "mini sites" target one keyword say like " student credit cards" and might include pages/reviews for "citibank student credit cards", "bank of america student credit cards" etc... So my question is whether all my links/anchor text should be pointing to my home page which will be optimized for the keyword "student credit cards" or should I also include anchors with other LSI keywords like "student credit cards with bad credit" or even links pointing to my review/pages of "citibank credit cards". Thanks
When you do this you have to remember you are 'faking' it to look natural. So mixing around the homepage with the inner pages is a good idea.
You should spread the links out. It is pointless and wrong to have them all pointing to your home page. Having all the links pointing to the home page doesn't look natural at all, the search engines are not dumb. And besides even if you have all the links pointing to your homepage there is no way that you will rank high for all those keywords, there is only so many keywords that you can target. Use main keywords for your home page, and more specific keywords and/or long tail keywords for specific pages. If you have a dedicated citibank credit cards page on your site then get some links with citibank credit cards anchor (and related keywords i.e. cheap citibank credit cards, gold citibank credit cards...) to point to that specific page.
Anchor text must be your targeted keyword. Search Engines emphasize on Anchor text and hyper link on particular text.