The Real Power Of Anchor Text In Links

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

When we talk about search engine optimization there are always two topics that constantly come to the surface. One is ‘keywords’ the other is ‘links’. The two are closely related although a simple experiment can show you how the wrong keyword in the anchor text of a link can have amazing results.

One of the biggest problems we find when looking at external links is the way anchor text is used. In fact, when reviewing sites prior to commencing a search engine optimization program I am amazed at anchor text that has been used for internal links. I don’t know how many times I have seen the word here or click here used as anchor text. By simply replacing those words with keywords you can turn a valueless anchor to one of high value.

In fact, as an experiment, let’s look at ‘click here’ as a search term. In Google, there are 1.6 billion references to ‘click here’. Guess who has position numbers one, two and three?

Position one: Adobe – Adobe Reader Download
Position Two: Apple – Quicktime Download
Position Three: Internet Explorer: Homepage

If you check each of these pages you will be hard pressed to find the words ‘click here’. In fact, I am pretty sure these pages have not been optimized for those terms either. So why do they rank so highly?

The answer for all three is pretty obvious. There are millions, if not billions of links on the web that say – ‘click here’ to download Adobe Reader, or ‘click here’ to download Quicktime. In other words, the anchor text in these links is ‘click here’, not Apple Quicktime for example.
This shows that anchor text is one of the most important factors regarding inbound relevant links pointing to a particular page and the value of those links to search engine results.

The careless use of anchor text in a link can rob your pages of valuable link juice. The next time you create a link, think about the anchor text. Don’t become another ‘click here to read more’ culprit.