{"id":16987,"date":"2019-12-14T09:11:45","date_gmt":"2019-12-14T09:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/?p=11188"},"modified":"2024-11-14T09:12:58","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T09:12:58","slug":"best-practices-anchor-text-optimisation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/best-practices-anchor-text-optimisation\/","title":{"rendered":"Anchor Text Best Practices"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anchor text is an important part of internal and external linking. This is one of those elements that can unlock a link\u2019s potential, add more context for search engines, guide search engine crawlers, and help a website rank higher for certain keywords and keyword phrases.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A few years ago, before Google Penguin, anchor text optimisation was a simple text. You simply put the primary keyword in it, and that\u2019s it. However, over the past few years \u2014 especially after the introduction of Google Penguin \u2014 the optimisation process of anchor text has evolved.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Here are a few best practices for anchor text optimisation that you need to be aware of:<\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2><b>1. Keeping it natural<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Google wants every single element on a web page to provide value to website visitors. This includes text, images, heading tags, links, and anchor text.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Moreover, if any element of the web page \u2014 especially when it comes to backlinks and anchor text \u2014 seems forced and unnatural, that might lead to a Google penalty.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Therefore, keeping it natural should be your number one priority. This includes two angles:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First, links and anchor text should be only on places where they add value to users.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Second, the anchor text itself should be contextual and natural.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>2. Keeping it versatile<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Over optimisation of certain keywords is one of the biggest mistakes that most content marketers and SEOs unintentionally make.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You may want to optimise a web page for a certain keyword phrase. However, it does not mean that all the internal and external links pointing to that page should contain an anchor text with just that one keyword phrase.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Avoid repetitive keywords in anchor text to diversify links and keep the backlink profile of your web site natural.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>3. Using LSI keywords<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>As we just discussed, over optimisation of keywords in the anchor text cloud can lead to a search engine penalty. You need to keep your backlink profile natural and diversified with a variety of anchor text and keywords.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the best ways to do that is to use LSI keywords in your anchor text.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LSI keywords are Latent Semantic Indexing keywords that are directly or indirectly related to the main keyword or topic of your web page. You can use a keyword research tool like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lsigraph.com\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LSIGraph<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to find relevant LSI keywords quickly.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Learn more about <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/backlinko.com\/hub\/seo\/lsi\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LSI keywords and how to use them<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>4. Anchors should be relevant<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>The Google Penguin algorithm update especially targets websites that have backlinks from irrelevant websites. The relevance of links \u2014 as well as the anchor text \u2014 as an extremely important part.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Check out the following chart to see the correlation between Google Penguin penalties and websites with irrelevant links.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the main focuses of Google is to provide the best possible user experience. The crusade against <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2019\/11\/11\/google-chrome-to-identify-and-label-slow-websites\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">slow-loading websites<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and sites with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.smashingmagazine.com\/2017\/05\/intrusive-interstitials-guidelines-avoid-google-penalty\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">interstitial ads<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is also a part of the long-term goal.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/unnamed-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-11192\" src=\"https:\/\/improvemysearchranking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/unnamed-1.png\" alt=\"unnamed (1)\" width=\"512\" height=\"314\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Irrelevant links \u2014 with irrelevant anchor text \u2014 simply cannot provide a great user experience. It will lead to a high exit rate and bounce rate.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>5. Avoid generic anchor text<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You should avoid generic anchor text as much as possible. Generic anchor text includes phrases, such as click here, read this, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is recommended to have up to 5 percent of generic anchor texts in your overall anchor text cloud. However, you should not actively contribute to it because you will likely get links with generic anchor text from other publishers.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>6. Guest blogging: Have control over anchor texts<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Guest blogging is a tried and tested method for generating relevant and high-quality backlinks for your website. However, too many times, publishers give away control over links and anchor text.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By retaining control over anchor text, you can easily diversify your backlink profile and anchor text cloud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One recommended practice is to create links with the following types of anchor text: exact match, partial match, and LSI keywords that are related to the topic of discussion.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although there is no definite rule, it is <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/serpstat.com\/blog\/anchor-text-what-is-it-and-how-to-optimize-it\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">recommended to divide your anchor text cloud<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> like this:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Branded anchor text: Up to 50 percent<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Domain name: Up to 15 percent<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Title of the blog post or web page: Up to 15 percent<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Naked URL: Up to 10 percent<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Exact and partial match keywords: Up to 5 percent<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Generic anchor text: Up to 3 to 5 percent<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Because search engines have evolved and become smarter than ever before, SEOs have one more thing to worry about: anchor text.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is not necessary to spend hours every week on this. Just being mindful of what your backlink profile and anchor text cloud look like can go a long way in helping you with higher search engine rankings and keeping Google Penguin penalties at bay.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related Posts:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/on-page-seo-guide\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">On-Page SEO Guide<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/utilize-internal-links-improving-websites-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Internal Linking Best Practices<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/importance-internal-links-website-structure-seo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Importance of Internal Links<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/5-tips-for-creating-internal-links\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Creating Internal Links<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/how-anchor-text-works\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What Is Anchor Text in SEO<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span data-sheets-root=\"1\"><a class=\"in-cell-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/topic-clusters-use\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What Are Topic Clusters<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anchor text is an important part of internal and external linking. This is one of those elements that can unlock a link\u2019s potential, add more context for search engines, guide search engine crawlers, and help a website rank higher for certain keywords and keyword phrases. A few years ago, before Google Penguin, anchor text optimisation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":23360,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oct_exclude_from_cache":false,"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[33,22],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Anchor Text Best Practices | IMSR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Optimise your anchor text with these best practices to boost your website&#039;s search engine rankings and user experience.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.improvemysearchranking.com\/best-practices-anchor-text-optimisation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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