Anchor text and linking

Anchor text has nothing to do with boats.



Ensuring you have good anchor text, will raise the tide for your blog, on the major search engines including Google, Yahoo, MSN Search, AOL Search, and Teoma.



What is anchor text?



Anchor text, which is also often called link text, is what appears on your incoming links from other blogs and static websites.



It is also something over which you have limited control. After all, when I put up a link to your blog, I'll usually place the name of your blog in the little text space.



What you can do, and it is especially helpful when you are making a mutual link exchange, is to request how your link anchor text should read. While many people will not use your requested text choice, many will.



Another option is to write out the html code yourself, and send it prewritten. ready to load in the template. Again, not everyone will use your prefab coding, but some bloggers will happily honour your request.



Other bloggers who you know really well, will often be very happy to change your anchor text, to the keyword search terms you are targeting. It doesn't hurt to ask. Perhaps they would welcome the idea of you changing their anchor text as well.



One place where you can control what is written in the anchor text is in your forum signature file. Instead of simply using your blog name, or worse your blog's URL, use your main keywords instead. It may give your blog a little bit of a link text pop.



Why does anchor text matter anyway?



The anchor text should highlight the main keywords that people use to find your blog.



If your blog is called ABC Blog and your main blogging topic is about tiddlywinks, you will score much higher rankings on the various search engines with "tiddlywinks blog" than "ABC Blog" in the anchor text.



The search engines consider the anchor text, especially on another site, to be an endorsement of your blog's main theme. You get even more benefit from that anchor text if the linking blog is also about tiddlywinks, but theming is a discussion for another day.



Suffice it to say that a link from a blog on the same topic on the same topic as yours (in this case tiddlywinks), has more value from one on say, whales or gardening.



Think of getting your anchor text, on other people's blogs, to include your main keywords.



Having strong link anchor text, on the incoming links to your blog, strengthens the power of your links many times over.



As you already know, more links from good solid blogs and websites will help boost your blog in the search engine rankings. Good anchor text multiplies that boosting energy.



As with all search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, it will take them at least two weeks to a month or more to show up in the search results. In the meantime, keep adding more incoming links to your blog.



Don't let your blog leave the harbour without good link text.



Your blog will rise higher, on the search engine seas, if you carefully weigh anchor.