Are Anchor Text Links Still Important for SEO?

A few years ago, the anchor text on links was very important for SEO purposes. The precise text in links affected the search results and still does to an extent – searching for “click here” still brings up the Adobe Reader site. But Google bombing – a practice that involved a disparate group of people creating a large number of precise anchor text links to affect the search results – has been largely prevented from affecting the search results.

As with almost everything to do with SEO, opinions vary as to the precise mix of anchor links that should be used but it is generally thought to be good practice to use a variety of different anchor texts rather than concentrating on the precise keyword phrases you want your site to rank for.

Instead, it is recommended that you aim for a variety of anchor links in the places where you can influence them in the first place.

On sites like YouTube, you can’t affect the anchor text. Any URL is automatically clickable but you can’t link it with any text. It’s just a raw link pointing to whichever page you’ve decided to include in your video description.

YouTube actually goes further than this and allows you to link back to precise times inside the video simply by including the minutes and seconds in your description. YouTube will then convert that to a link that takes anyone who clicks on it to that point in the video. Which shows they have the capability of including different anchor texts but don’t want regular people to be able to control that.

Outside YouTube, it is recommended that you include a number of different anchor texts, including a small proportion of ones with the keyword that you’re aiming to rank for.

The remainder of the anchor texts – probably the bulk of them – should be a mixture of other more generic words and phrases such as “click here” and “find out more”.

This sounds counter-productive as it doesn’t give Google the precise words you want to rank for. But it is actually a good idea as Google’s algorithm tends to prefer to work that kind of thing out for itself and it’s getting a lot better at doing so.

The logic behind mixing up lots of different anchor texts, most of which are generic, is that this is more natural.

Whether or not that’s the case is open to debate and will almost certainly vary from site to site and from industry to industry.

For instance, an article site like this one is very likely to use precise text as the anchor pointing back to the site that contributed the article.

A site run by a hobbyist is maybe less likely to do that and is more likely to use phrases like “click here”.

So it’s worth following the convention of the sites you’re using and mixing up your anchor text.

Even to the point of having some links that are pure text – not even linked at all – as that happens on some websites and with some less than technically competent webmasters.

SEO Web Links and Backlinks

Are web backlinks dead?

What should I do for SEO?

So you want your website to be on page 1 of the Google search engine results. What you have to bear in mind is where Google is coming from when they decide which websites go on page 1.

Their business depends absolutely on showing the most relevant websites for a specific key phrase search, otherwise their competitors might start to get a look in.

In the very early days, this was just a question of looking at the words in the web page. This is how YAHOO started. Then the founders of Google were doing a research project at Stanford University called “backrub” which looked at the web links between websites (backlinks) as a way of judging the importance and usefulness of websites. They could also exploit the anchor text (the text on the actual web link). This proved very successful, and before we knew it Google had usurped YAHOO as the leading search engine because they gave better results.

Needless to say once everyone knew that Google was looking at web links, the Search Engine optimiser chaps started building web links willy nilly and this was for a while a very powerful technique to game the system and get your website promoted.

Google countered with the PENGUIN update, which tries to recognise the genuine web links and remove the artificial links on the basis of relevancy, non-random IP addresses and non-random anchor text (the text on the link) etc. This caused quite a lot of anguish to web masters who had built poor web links and found themselves penalised and well off page 1.

Even recently, Matt Cutts of Google admitted that when Google attempted to set search rankings without using web links, they got poor results. So web links are still important, and you should try to build web links so long as they are relevant links and add genuine value to the person browsing the web.

What other factors does Google use to determine search engine rankings? It’s worth bearing in mind that the precise algorithm Google uses is a state secret, and changes constantly. Just remember to think back to the Google business model, where they must show the most relevant results to their users.

But you can listen to the chatter on the internet and in particular take note of any announcements by Google, for example they have announced that in searches done on a mobile (now more that 50% of all searches), they will give priority to responsive websites, i.e. designed to show properly on mobile phones with their narrow screens.

Recently the Google Search Quality Guidelines have come out in to the open, This document is for their internal evaluators, but it emphasises expertise, authority and trust, In practice this means that links and mentions from people who are considered an authority are valued.

There are many articles on SEO, which will have a lot of details, but the main things you must do for SEO is:

(1) Provide useful content/information/service, be prepared to give away some trade secrets

(2) Persuade others to share your content, by perhaps social media share buttons on your own website or relevant backlinks from others to your website.

Find Out How Successful People Think So You May Be Successful Too

Do you think successful people are just plain lucky?

Successful people did not become successful because they were lucky.

They did not achieve success by accident. Being at the right place at the right time, meeting relevant people, reading the appropriate book, did not come about accidentally or by luck.

Luck is brought about by Labour Under Correct Knowledge.

Successful people prepared themselves. Instead of giving up on anything they started and wanted to achieve they got stronger by learning more.

Success is a methodical, orderly and deliberate process of deciding what you want to do with your life, what are the steps that you need to undertake to get you there, and lastly what you will do once you get there.

One of the most important aspects, if not the most important aspect to success, is the ability to visualise your successful outcome and stay focused on it until you achieve it.

“Imagination is more important than knowledge, knowledge is limited.” – Albert Einstein

Successful people understood the potential power behind knowledge, yet they also understood that, for them to close the gap between where they are and where they wanted to be, they would have to piece together the enigma that is most often referred to as “life”.

They had to build a picture, a vision, of success in their mind, and then go about taking action on creating that envisioned life.

In much the same way, you have to be serious about your present and future, you need to have the knowledge that is required so you, too, may close the gap: you need to be and remain determined to devote yourself to taking massive action to build your business of succeeding in life.

You, too, will need to see the end, your dream and destiny that you desire in your mind’s eye. It is up to you to take the necessary and relevant action to make it all happen. It’s just like going to the doctor with a particular health problem.

The doctor may prescribe a medication for you to take four times a day, yet he cannot be there with you to ensure that you are taking the medication.

It comes back to deciding to be responsible for your life.

Have you noticed how it all stems from that one attitude? Being responsible for your own life.

Your success, your being responsible 100% for you to live your dream life starts here.

When you accept 100% responsibility for yourself and your current life situation, you will have the power to move towards those things you truly desire in life: which is success in all areas of your life.

This life-changing article is about possibilities and opportunities, knowledge and tools. It will help expose your unique course in life.

It will inspire, support and motivate you to excel, to do what successful people do, to have all that successful people have, and to become a shining example of a successful person.

Here, you’re not being told what you couldn’t do, instead you are being told to shoot for the stars. And above all, you are being shown how to shoot for those stars.

“A person is what he thinks about all day long.” – Emerson

Interesting thought, wouldn’t you think? So much so, it’s worth repeating: “A person is what he thinks about all day long.”

Success and happiness cannot happen if you possess the same old thoughts and beliefs.

If you do not change your mind, if you do not get rid of the unsupportive thoughts and beliefs, you will inevitably remain stuck in your old ways. Not much, if anything, will change.

Let’s give you a quick overview on how change comes about:

Your BEHAVIOUR, how you act (or perhaps do not act), controls your success or failure. Your ability to attain high levels of success is dependent upon your actions and behaviours. Your results are the outcome of your behaviour. Now let’s consider where your behaviours come from and what controls them?

Your FEELINGS command your behaviour. Every action that you take is first filtered through your feelings that reside in your subconscious mind. How you feel about something determines what you do and how well you do it. So where do your feelings come from?

Your ATTITUDES create and influence your feelings. Your attitude is your perspective from which you view life. Whatever attitude you have about anything will affect how you feel, which, in turn, affects how you act. Where do your attitudes come from?

Your BELIEFS create, control and influence your attitudes. What you believe about anything will determine your attitude about it, which will create your feelings, and then which will direct your behaviour and action. Belief patterns are so powerful that two people who are in the same situation could perceive things completely differently. It only requires us to believe what we see and how we see it. We all have thousands of beliefs – big and small. And where do your beliefs come from?

Your THOUGHTS create, control and influence your beliefs. Your thoughts are real and are immensely powerful. Everything you accept from the outside world and everything you feed yourself from within is a product of your thoughts. Everything starts as a thought.

So, it goes without saying you need to learn to control your thoughts. And when you do, you will automatically control your beliefs, your attitudes, your feelings and, consequently, your behaviour and actions.

The big secret to success:

Learn to control your thoughts and you will influence your behaviours and actions. It’s all a mind-set. That’s what we’ve been saying all along.

Success is predictable and is not achieved by accident.

Have the mind-set of the successful people and you will achieve success. Believe and it is yours!

“There is a great future in front of you, you can leave your past behind.” – Joel Osteen

Science of success experts have concluded that the brain is a goal-setting organism.

That is fantastic news for us: for whatever goal we give to our subconscious mind, it will work for us day and night, 24/7, to achieve it for us; to make it a reality.

The principal breakthrough that scientists made was that we do not need to waste our precious time and effort trying to change old thoughts and behaviours: we just simply create new ones.

And the other discovery they made was that we can continue to create new thoughts, new memories, new behaviours, new skills, and learn new things for as long as we are alive on this earth.

Now, with the new discoveries in recent years, it has been scientifically proven that our capacity to achieve and succeed literally has no limits.

Our brain has the capacity to continually learn during our entire lifetime.

Our brain can form new thoughts, can have new memories, and can learn new things by the millions, no matter what your age is. By the millions.

That’s how many new things we can learn, that’s how many new skills we can learn, that’s how many new thoughts we can have, that’s how many new behaviours we can adopt.

This is encouraging because there is no limit on your capacity to achieve new things.

No limits whatsoever for the human brain to learn, memorise, develop, achieve and perform at higher levels than ever imagined. It makes no difference what your age is: you are capable of learning anything new that you want to learn.

That adds to what we spoke of earlier: no more excuses.

“The future belongs to those who prepare for it today.” – Malcolm X

Your brain has the capacity to achieve way beyond what was ever thought possible. So now is the time to break out of your limited thinking and start dreaming big and imagining unlimited possibilities.

Becoming successful is not impossible.

It is a choice you make through a decision. Every day, step-by-step, you may climb the mountain of success if you’ve decided to do so, if you’re committed to accomplish what the others think impossible.

Design your future now.

Prepare to receive what you desire.

Thanks to the phenomenal advances made in cognitive science and the development of NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), personal change, personal transformation, has come a very long way.

In fact, personal growth is no longer a mystery.

NLP has brought to light that change, transformation and growth can be fast, reliable, and even fun. It has shown us that we do not need to spend thousands of hours slaving away to increase our creative-thinking abilities.

By practicing a few simple exercises and applications, you can start your creative juices flowing, and you may even amaze yourself at the quality and quantity of good ideas that you can come up with to expedite your success.

It can allow you to achieve something you seek within days and months as opposed to years and decades. That’s the power of the progress science has made on how the brain works, and also how you can have your mind to be your best ally in achieving anything you want.

Learn to live as you like by no longer living as you dislike.

Are you ready to get on the road to success and fulfilment?

Bear in mind, much like everything else in life, success requires practice and massive, consistent action.

“Success doesn’t mean the absence of failures; it means the attainment of ultimate objectives. It means winning the war, not every battle.” – Edwin C Bliss

Hani Al-Qasem has been a self-improvement educator for more than 18 years.

You can download your copy of “Wealth Attraction: How To Reprogram Your Mind For More Money” FREE eBook where you can begin the automatic reprogramming of your brain for wealth, success, and abundance, in just six easy steps.

Live Your Life To Please God

Open your Bible to 1 Thessalonians 4:1 it says… Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. Go ahead and highlight that scripture.

Will you trust God to teach you in the way you should go? You need wisdom to live for His righteousness, His love and devotion to Christ Jesus. You see, you have to develop the habit of listening to God. He may give you direction you have never had before. Like what? God wants you under the influence of His Word. God wants you to live by godly principles in His Word.

God wants you to give Jesus first place! This is vital for your Christian walk! Jesus is your connection to the throne of God. You see, in this world, it is very easy to become distracted from God. Many people follow some other path apart from God’s will. But the foundation of all spiritual truth is obedience to God through the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Bible tells you to praise the Lord! He is truly worthy of worship. Love no one not even yourself – more than you love God. Every morning you should be asking God to fill you with His presence. You want to be filled by the Spirit so that you’re led by Him. You love the Word, study the Word and learn the Word. Why? To live your life to please God. His Word is true wisdom for you to walk in His instructions.

If you want to live your life to please God give His Word a place of first priority! Scriptures will come alive on the inside of you. You’re knowing God for yourself and the importance of being led by the Spirit of God. Many people won’t like the new you, but you’re not living to please people, you’re living to please God.

You don’t need people approval when you have God’s approval! You want the praise of God more than the praise of people. Quit worrying about what everyone thinks and do what God has put in your heart.

God will put a new testimony in your mouth! You may think there is a lot wrong with you, but there is also a lot right with you. God is continually shaping and molding into the person He wants you to be. Stop focusing on what you can’t do, and start focusing on what God can do.

Serve God and worship Him and continue to seek His will. How? You have to establish a passionate relationship with God’s Word. Believe His Word, trust His Word, study His Word, thank Him for His Word. But always remember the devil will do everything he possibly can to lure you away from God. The devil does not want you to grow in the knowledge of King Jesus.

Many people never seriously read the Bible! But you need to be a student of God’s Word and doer of God’s ways. Be a Christian that reads scripture and prays. The Holy Spirit won’t adjust to you, you must adjust to Him! Use your voice to worship Him and lift up the name of Jesus! Now, raise your hands and say, “I live to please God, more and more!”

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