Anchor Text of Inbound Link

Of the different factors affecting a site's search engine optimization (SEO), the anchor text of inbound link is one of the most important. In fact, 37 experts in the field of SEO rated it the second predictor, tying with the global link popularity of site, of a site's standing in Google's algorithm.

Google, along with other big search engines, place heavy value on the anchor text of inbound links. In fact, Google is said to value the anchor text much more than Yahoo! and Live Search does. Anchor texts of inbound links—just how important are they?

If you type "jobs" in the search query, Monster.com ranks first. Yet, that same word does not even appear on that page. It only appears in the form of ALT text. Type "computers" in Google. You might be surprised to find out that simply because of anchor text of inbound links, six sites which do not even have the word "computers" in their page are in the top 10.

Still not convinced? Try searching for "profit". Seven of the top 10 sites also do not have such word in the page copy. How about the word "click"? Nine of the top 10 results do not have such word, either, in their page. And if you type "leave" in the search query, or "exit", Yahoo! tops the search engine results page (SERP). All these sites and more are on top of the SERP only because of their anchor text of inbound link.

How do you use the anchor text for your site's SEO? The easiest and most profitable way is to use a descriptive name for your site. Also, it would be an advantage if you name your folders and files descriptively.

A group of leaders in SEO, along with many webmasters, prioritize the anchor text of inbound link. They consider it one of the most concise appraisals of what your site is all about. Experts suggest using targeted anchor links as much as possible. Also, inbound links should not be identical at all. While it is an important factor by itself, experts suggest additional items besides it.

Especially at this time when Google is thwarting Google bombing, the power of anchors can be maximized with other attributes. While some leaders in SEO have observed that for the past years, Google has been looking more at domain authority and number of quality citations, there is still high consensus among them that indeed this factor is of great significance.