Anchor text question

[NealRM]

Do longer anchor text strings give you more keyword juice.

Example: Anchor text = Real Estate for sale in Southeast Missouri.

Does this count towards the keywords of "Real Estate", "Missouri", Southeast Missouri", "Real Estate for Sale"

If so, why not just have your whole description be the anchor text?

[Eric Blackwell]

For starters, because it would not look natural and would be very cumbersome for readers. Your focus in putting anchor text in should be:

What makes sense to pull the reader from where they are to the link I am directing them towards. Does it add to the value of the content to reference what I am linking to, etc.

Best;

Eric

[ericbadgley]

If use the ancor text: Real Estate for sale in Southeast Missouri.

You would rank the most for "Real Estate for sale in Southeast Missouri."

My anchor text is "Bellingham Real Estate" I don't see myselft going anywhere for "bellingham"

But I am ranking for bellingham real estate. the best strategy would be to make the direct keywords .

[ericbadgley]

The way you have your sig is not a good strategy. You should have separate anchor text for your keywords. One for "Cape Girardeau real estate" & one for "Jackson MO Real Estate" to get the best results

[TrimarkProperties]

My anchor text is "Bellingham Real Estate" I don't see myselft going anywhere for "bellingham"
.

Hmm. Maybe you're making an extreme point, but certainly, an exact anchor text for an exact keyword phrase will give the most benefit for the exact keyword. Ie: "Bellingham Real Estate" will help you rank better for "Bellingham Real Estate"--- but it will ALSO help with other phrases (like Real Estate Bellingham).

[ericbramlett]

Aubrey's correct - I don't optimize for "Austin Texas" but I rank on the 3rd page for that term (behind some seriously powerful websites.) You will go up in rank for the terms within your anchor text.

HOWEVER....Badgley is also correct that this is nowhere near the most efficient way to gain rank for your main KW's. Pick out a handful of keywords that you're going after & use them in the most natural way possible in your posting, in your signature, or in your author bio. If they're all natural, just make sure & vary it up. It's definitely not natural that 100% of your IBL's share the same anchor text. Here's some recommendations:

Cape Gieardau real estate
Jackson real estate
Cape Geirdau MO real estate
Jackson MO real estate
Cape Geirdau Mississippi real estate
etc...

Also....go after "city Realtor" just to piss off realtor(dot)com

[NealRM]

I think I will go back to my prior practice. I checked my position on real estate terms relating to Cape Girardeau and Jackson MO. HouseView is positioned well on each of them. Instead of trying to combine terms I think I will just try to get more links with terms relating to a broader area.

Also....go after "city Realtor" just to piss off realtor(dot)com

I don't need to: I'm #1 & #2 for jackson MO Realtor, #1 for Cape Girardeau Realtor, and in the top 5 for other area "Realtor" terms.

[Discover Davis Homes]

I don't need to: I'm #1 & #2 for jackson MO Realtor, #1 for Cape Girardeau Realtor, and in the top 5 for other area "Realtor" terms.

So now go after the top spot in all the other area "Realtor" terms.

[NealRM]

I think it will be more fun to go after "Missouri Realtors"

[TrimarkProperties]

HOWEVER....Badgley is also correct that this is nowhere near the most efficient way to gain rank for your main KW's. Pick out a handful of keywords that you're going after & use them in the most natural way possible in your posting, in your signature, or in your author bio. If they're all natural, just make sure & vary it up. It's definitely not natural that 100% of your IBL's share the same anchor text.

I second all of this-- and couldn't have said it better.

When I am optimizing a page, I pick 2 or 3 of the top most popular exact keyword phrases and use those, and then find that the less popular keyword alternatives (as slight variations of the first few) just naturally go up.