Link Anchor Text: SEO and Relationships

Reach Out with Respect

When we code a link, anchor text is that part people click to get where the link goes. Well-written anchor text is one more way that people and spiders know why you made the link — the relevance between your post and where you are sending them. Link anchor text is another way to reach out with respect to bloggers who offer information we value.

Here’s an example of anchor text in link as code and as the reader sees.

This code:

<a href=“http://[URL goes here]”>Link Anchor Text</a >

would look like this to readers:

Link Anchor Text

Sometimes you’ll see the name of the blog or a post as anchor text. Sometimes you’ll words such as here or click here instead. The first is relevant and SEO friendly. It builds connections and relationships. The second does not. Who wants to be referred to as “click here”?

Relationships and SEO

Strong, descriptive anchor text is a sign that we know how spiders travel links and that we care about people read and write blogs.

Search engines pay attention to what you write in your anchor text. They notice all of the text around a link — key words and descriptions. Spiders use anchor text to determine relevance and authority as they follow links from post to post. Linking with keyword-rich anchor text forms strong links to posts both within your blog and with blogs you respect.

Think about relationships. Links connect blogs and connect the bloggers who write them. Great anchor text, descriptive of what the link is leading to, offers an opportunity to feature those relationships. Spiders read and match up relevant key words in the linking posts. Search engines highlight your anchor text when they index the reference. The blogger you link to sees your descriptive text as how you named his or her blog or blog post.

It only takes a few seconds — a few words inside a link . . . to make a difference in relevance and SEO, to let readers know where you suggest they go next, and to offer the blogger at the other end a few words of respect. That’s a great way to use links to reach out.

Go for the relationship at the same time that you’re following great SEO practices.

Anchor me.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
If you’d like Liz’s help with your business, click on the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Tags: anchor_text, blog-promotion, blog_promotion, how_to_code_links, link_building, making_links, SEO

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A Pre-Publishing Checklist for Feeding the Spiders

Filed Under Checklists, SEO, Successful Blog | 13 Comments

Making Sure the Investment Pays Off

Yep I write every day and I publish. That’s way I make sure that my voice is heard. I also want to be sure that my words are visible. I like to see that the spiders serve them up in Google.

Prorating the time that I spent gathering ideas, I’ve probably spent 60-120 minutes on average post. Time writing is time working. Time spent is an investment. It’s time I could be using talking to bloggers and talking with clients. Before I hit publish I make sure that the time I’ve invested pays off as well as it might. I’ve made a short Pre-Flight Publishing list that I run down, before I pass say, “Go.”

Pre-Publishing Checklist

Is the content keyword rich? By waiting to read for keywords until after all other checks, I make sure that I don’t forfeit quality to pray at the altar of SEO. Now, I can look for keywords my readers might search for and make sure that they find the relevant content that I have to offer. I won’t be reaching, and they won’t be disappointed. Current relationships will stay strong, and new readers will be pleased with what they encounter here.
What tags might I add that belong with this post? Tags can help search engine spiders properly index my post. Post tags are definitely blog, brand, and business promotion. If your blogging software doesn’t easily allow you to tag your posts, there are plug-ins and hacks for every platform out there.
What related articles do I have that readers might be interested in reading? Offering related articles for readers to read more when they finished my post, gives people more information about a subject they’ve already shown interest in. It also gets readers more involved with my blog, my business, and my brand.
The intra-link that you make at the end of your post shows people how your content relates and is relevant throughout your blog–this helps search engines index it as well.
Are there opportunities for trackbacks? If I’ve mentioned another blogger’s work or if what I’ve said meshes well with the conversation on another blog, I’ll send a trackback to let that blogger know.
Is this this a one-in-a-million post that I should self-promote to other blogs? If I’ve written the post that reveals how to get “Google Goodness” from every post, I write a brief introduction of myself and your post and send a personal email to a select two or three bloggers.
I make it’s a one-in-a-million post, and I explain my reasons for thinking it’s a match with their blogs. If you don’t read a blog, don’t send a link. Period. Either way, it’s a long shot that a post really is the one-in-a-million post that we think it is. Still, there’s a right and wrong way to let folks know. If you’re going to do that, do your homework first, the person receiving the email will notice. Believe me they will.

When I’ve made these few checks I feel better that I’m sending off my work in great shape to make the most of the time that I’ve invested.

What other practices are on your pre-publsihing checklist?

–ME “lis” Strauss

Blog Promotion: How to Write for People and Search Engine Spiders
10 + 1 Things to Make Me Love Your Business Email

Tags: blog-promotion, search-engine-spiders, SEO, Writing

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Blog Promotion: How to Write for People and Search Engine Spiders

Filed Under Basics, SEO, Successful Blog, Writing | 15 Comments

Blog Promotion by Writing Well for the Web

Writing online serves two audiences — people and search engine spiders — those little crawly bots that move from link to link indexing information that ranks my pages. People are my readers. People are also the users who search for information. Spiders locate the content for search engines to index and serve up when people go searching for information. Keeping those facts in mind helps me handle the balance between the people and the coded arachnids that search out quality, relevant content to serve them.

The best blog promotion is to write well for the web. I keep my focus on people and give a nod to spiders by following these basics.

Write for People

I write for people. I use my own voice. I write with the way people read as my guide.

I read over my work as a reader would. When I read what I’ve written listen as a person would hear the message.

I look for words, phrases, errors, and overly-long sentences that would get between readers and my message. I also have a proofreader check things behind me. If you find something, she’s not been here yet.

After the work is “people-ready,” I go over it another time for my secondary audience –- those search engine spiders. I make sure the spiders don’t trip and have plenty to eat.

Feed Spiders

Spiders like to eat keywords. I make sure they find some in titles and subheads and key sentences. I don’t mind a bit of repetition.

I avoid the word “here” as link anchor text. Spiders place more value on outgoing links when the anchor text shows how they are relevant.

I add related articles. Spiders like to know how my pages relate to each other, and they like to have those pages to serve up when someone is searching for a related idea.

I link out or trackback to quality blogs.

These last crumbs to feed spiders didn’t really change the content. So I give the piece a final read, fix what I find, and hit that publish button.

Readers are happy because they get my best writing. Spiders are happy because people get my best writing — that means the people will use their search engine again.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Tags: blog-promotion, search-engine-spiders, SEO, Writing

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SOB Business Cafe 08-11-2006

Filed Under Business Life, Community, Great Finds, Marketing, Outside the Box, SEO, SOB Business, Successful Blog | 6 Comments

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the title shots to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Bloggers Blog gives the complete rundown on who said what about the terrible possibilities that could have occurred in the air yesterday.

Jamdo offers a unique look at names and search engine traffic.

The Blogging Times introduces us to the Blogmobile, which somehow blogged its way here from the 60s.

Clear Your Mind wants us to do just that.

The Blog Herald gives us a CLUE about the election last Tuesday.

Related ala carte selections include

The Business of America is Business hosts an International Carnival of spectacular proportions, showing that capitalists still believe that bigger is best. :)

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like.
No tips required. Comments appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Tags: blog-promotion, Bloggers-Blog, Blogmobile, Carnival-of-Capitalists, Clear-Your-Mind, creative-thinking, Jamdo, SEO, terror-threat, The-Blog-Herald, The-Blogging-Times, The-Business-of-America-Is-Business

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Search Engines & People Care about Anchor Text in Links

Filed Under Basics, Branding, Marketing, Successful Blog, Tech/Stats | 8 Comments

Anchor Text

When you code a link to another blog or website, the link anchor text is the name or description that you give to the link. The anchor text is the word or words that people click on to take them to where the link leads. These visuals show a sample link code and how the anchor text would look in to your readers.

<a href=“http://[URL goes here]”>Link Anchor Text</a >

would look like this to readers:

Link Anchor Text

Some people use the name of the site or blog as anchor text. Some use words such as here or click here instead.

Search Engines Care about Anchor Text

It’s good SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to anchor your links with strong descriptive text. Strong anchor text is a sign of a blogger who knows best practices, who understands how search engines travel links, and who cares about readers. Aaron Wall, who wrote the book on SEO, recommends avoiding click here anchor text, except in the rare case when it can’t be avoided.

Search engines pay attention to what you write in your anchor text. Spiders use anchor text as they follow links. The anchor is an opportunity to show how your post relates to the information you have linked to. It’s a way underscore to the relevancy of what you have been saying. Take the time to be descriptive when choosing text to anchor your links.

It’s also good be inconsistent when you name multiple links to the same source.

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keep looking »

Link Anchor Text: SEO and Relationships

Reach Out with Respect

Relationships and SEO

A Pre-Publishing Checklist for Feeding the Spiders

Making Sure the Investment Pays Off

Pre-Publishing Checklist

Blog Promotion: How to Write for People and Search Engine Spiders