Whenever you create a backlink you can either have it be displayed as the URL that is pointing to or you can use anchor text which effectively cloaks the link. Using both methods will help your SEO, but anchor text links can have a greater impact in terms of letting Google know which keywords the page the link is pointing to, should be ranked for.
While this is a great way to help your SEO, the danger exists that you could overdo it by using the same exact match keyword every time, and instead of your anchor text links helping your ranking, they hamper it, as Google thinks you’re using spam tactics.
One of the ways to avoid any issues with Google is to mix up the way in which you use anchor text. There are several types of anchor text you can use for links, as you are about to find out.
Exact Match Keyword: Although we have already mentioned you should not overdo it with exact match keywords, it doesn’t mean you should avoid using them. The best way to use this strategy is for each page of content you have on your website targeting more than one keyword phrase. This means that when you are using anchor text in a link, you have more than more exact match keyword you can use when setting up the link back to the page in question.
Naked URL: We mentioned this is in the intro, but we need to emphasize that using the basic URL of the page you are linking to should happen occasionally. Google is far less suspicious of websites that have raw URL links than those which have only anchor text. The obvious benefit of this is higher rankings because you are not thought of as a site that is spamming.
Branded: Instead of a keyword or keyword phrase, use the name of your website, or company name as the anchor text. Google loves brands, so you are doing right by them, and it also helps your brand to become more recognisable.
Partial Match Keywords: This when the keyword you want to target is included in the anchor text, but there are other words too. An example would be a company who want to target the term office cleaning. Anchor text which they could use might be ‘the top cleaning company in Perth’, or ‘our cleaning company promises satisfaction or your money back’.
Generic: When you create a backlink and use generic anchor text is can be anything you like really, as long as the text makes sense if it is part of written content. While you can use text which has some relevance to the subject or niche, it is just as effective to use any generic word or phrase. Google does not expect spam sites to use generic anchor text and as we have mentioned it likes to see the way in which your anchor texts are created having some variation.
Latent Semantic Indexing Keywords: As Google has developed their algorithms, and published updates to their SERPs over the years the desire for them to see ‘Latent Semantic Indexing’ (LSI) keywords has grown. Although the term may sound complex, all LSI really means is words or phrases which have the same or similar meaning.
An example would be if you operated a business which sold industrial equipment. You would most likely target the phrase ‘industrial equipment suppliers’. However, ‘equipment’ could be replaced by, ‘machinery’ and it would have roughly the same meaning. Industrial could also be swapped out with manufacturing. This creates keyword phrases that you can use for anchor text that mean the same as your main keyword.
