Basic SEO theory and ‘on page’ factors have been covered in an earlier article. However, what really matters concerns off-page SEO. It’s a sort of selection process. If another site places a link to your site then that site has given you a vote of confidence. They’re saying, “Look at them – they’ve got something interesting to say…”
There are 2 main bits to the link. First, the actual URL or web address of the page they are pointing to. And second, the ‘anchor text’ or ‘keyword phrase’ that is highlighted on the web-page for you to click. That page can then be seen as receiving one ‘vote’. To clarify, that’s a check in the box saying raise this site up the organic Search Engine lists for the phrase embedded in the link.
This always works like this. The anchor text and page pointed to are irrevocably tied together. You can only proffer a vote for a web page that has anchor text highlighted. Search Engines utilise Anchor Text as an indicator of what the page’s content is. Read that again, because it’s vital… The anchor text determines the search terms your site will be rated for.
For this reason, a highlighted link with ‘CLICK here to read more’ would serve no SEO purpose – can you see why? ‘Click Here’ becomes the keyword phrase we’ve created a vote for. Who on earth is going to search for that term? There isn’t anybody.
That’s the reason the anchor text must be right. It denotes which terms you’ll be ranked for. (Before we move on – are you aware that if you did search for Click Here, you’d see Adobe Reader Download listed first). Did they do that on purpose? Of course not! It’s simply that ‘click here’ features on so many sites to download Adobe Reader.
In short, anchor text phrases are always used by the SE’s to place a vote. And why not? Google wants to emulate what a real human being is looking for and would like to find. The content of your page isn’t necessarily relevant. You’ll rank for the terms in the anchor text phrases that point to you. That is how it is.
Of course, it’s not quite as simple as that… Because the SE’s also use the page title and wording of the page being pointed at to correlate the results. Along with a host of other things as well. (To give you an idea, the spread of the sites linking to yours, and their relevancy to your site).
However, let’s be quite clear – the most important thing by far for SEO is a stuff-load of back links! And they must come from a great diversity of sites, and have properly phrased anchor texts. How much ‘clout’ a donor site has is very relevant also – There is much more value in a back-link from a highly rated site than from one with no rating at all.
Selecting the right keywords to build ratings for is quite technical. (And you should perform a lot of keyword and competitor research before putting any strategy into place.) The main thing is – What does an enquirer search for when they’re looking for your products and services? Because that’s it! The answers give you your exact keyword phrases.
However, you can’t just use your ‘best guesses! The best results are sometimes quite unexpected. Individuals can be quite random in the way they express themselves. One person looking for a good night’s sleep might type in “Orthopaedic beds” or “New Mattress”. While someone else might automatically think to say ‘I need more sleep’.
Would you really want to trust your marketing to vague ideas and feelings about what might be typed in? A lot of measuring, testing and research of each term is of vital importance. They’ll form the basis of ALL the visitors you’ll get to your website. Picture an advert featured in the Yellow Pages. You won’t receive any calls if you’re listed under an inappropriate heading. Search Engine Optimisation can only be effective with painstaking and detailed keyword research.
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