Ranking via partial match
-
If I wanted to rank for "red hot widgets" and my domain was redhot.com, would it be better to obtain backlinks (via "red hot widgets" anchor text) pointing to:
A) redhot.com (homepage)
or
Many thanks.
-
I can't find the perfect quote right now, but I have often read articles were Eric Enge, Matt Cutts and others with a high degree of credibility talked about how unnatural anchor text patterns will likely lead to a (algorithmic) penalty.
Some example articles:
http://www.stonetemple.com/articles/anchor-text.shtml
http://www.stonetemple.com/articles/interview-matt-cutts-061608.shtml
The premise is anchor links are supposed to be independent, and such links will vary naturally if not unduly influenced. When the identical anchor text is used past a certain threshhold, it is clear some extra influence is at work and the links will not have the same value. That influence can include such factors as a widget with specific code, links submitted to 100s of directories, republished articles, standard software created by links, etc.
A natural, independent link has more value then any form of influenced link, and Google does what it can to differentiate them and weight them accordingly.
-
Interesting about redhot.com/red-hot-widgets vs.redhot.com/widgets. So the latter will not be considered a closer match and no problem repeating the KWs red & hot?
Robert, regarding assumption 2, if I was trying to rank for hot dog onions and the domain was hotdog.com would the same still apply?
ie. Is hotdogs.com/hot-dog-onions better than hotdogs.com/onions -- hot dogs & hot dog onions being 2 different products?
-
Thanks for the advice guys.
-
Ryan,
the natural anchor text varies or naturally varying anchor text: Other than appearing unnatural or having readability issues, is there any evidence you have seen as to this having an effect on ranking, etc.? Just curious on this.
-
Based on your question being what you prefer to rank for KW: "red hot widgets" I would say a variant of B would be best. Assumption 1: Redhot is a descriptor of multiple items - widgets, gidgets, and midgets.
Assumption 2: Redhot.com was not a single product or service offering.
The variant I would use is redhot.com/red-hot-widgets; the reason being that I would have the partial KW in the domain and you would have an exact-match KW in the URL.
In a highly competitive widget market, you could go with widgets.redhot.com and grow the subdomain but you will need links, good anchor text and time. You would be growing widgets as its own domain, links, etc.
With a smaller site and the above assumptions, I would go with redhot.com/red-hot-widgets.com.
-
Ideally each page of your site should target one keyword or phrase. Presumably your home page will focus your brand name "Red Hot". Your redhot.com/widgets page will focus "red hot widgets". If this description is accurate for your site, then the backlinks for "red hot widgets" would best applied to your /widgets page.
Keep in mind, natural anchor text varies. It would not be a good idea to have all your links use the same anchor text as it would appear quite unnatural.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
My site ranking has dropped in recent 2 weeks ?
I have a quick question to ask you guys,
Technical SEO | | Mustansar
I have my site (www.webuycarstoday.co.uk) It used to rank very well for all my target keywords. But recently all keywords dropped massively. I can't seems to find a good reason of this drop. We have not change anything which may have caused such drop.
Any suggestion or advice to get into the problem. I would appreciate your kind responses.0 -
Internal Link Rank Flow
I've read in many articles that pages can "pass" rank to other pages internally. Is anyone aware of any well done internal linking case studies which confirm this? If my homepage has the strongest Page Authority, would linking to another page deeper into my website from my homepage boost my rank for the deeper page in Google (more so than linking to the deep page from a page with lower page authority)?
Technical SEO | | poke10 -
Wordpress versus html and google ranking
My current SEO has always recommended that I take my site to wordpress. I really don't want to move to wordpress. I don't like it... I just like writing code in raw html, css, and script. I feel like I have more control that way. Wordpress just seems like a platform for blogs (I have my blog in wordpress). My question is, do wordpress websites typically rank better? Is there benefit to moving to it?
Technical SEO | | CalicoKitty20000 -
Why does google show two different titles for my rankings?
I have two keywords I am ranked for but google is showing two different title tags. One is the more updated version while the other is the older version. In all in one seo pack it shows the updated title tag but google still shows the old Why is this?
Technical SEO | | junkcars0 -
Please Help! I lost ranking from #1 SERP
PensacolaRealEstate.com I am new to SEO. I lost my first place ranking on google. I held it for YEARS. I think I lost it with the last update... How do I analyze my site to find what is penalizing me? How can I get back to the top?
Technical SEO | | JML11790 -
Wrong Page Ranking
Higher-level page with more power getting pushed out by weaker page in the SERPs for an important keyword. I don't care about losing the weaker page. Should I: 404 the weaker page and wait for Google to (hopefully) replace it with the stronger page? 301 the weaker page to the stronger page? NOTE: Due to poor communication between content team and myself, the weak and strong pages have similar title tags (i.e, "lawsuits" and "litigation")
Technical SEO | | LCNetwork0 -
Page rank and ranking down
Hi I blog at Technostarry. Some 3 months back during page rank update, my page rank went down from 3 to 2. I don't know the reason behind this. And now, my traffic and ranking is also down. I am not involved in any bad SEO practices, I don't copy paste and I write original content. I am too confused as why and what has happened with my site. If someone could analyze my blog and look at my weak points then that would be great. I would like to get any suggestions to get back my ranking and also page rank back. Thanks.
Technical SEO | | technotech0 -
Dismal content rankings
Hi, I realize this is a very broad question, but I am going to ask it anyways in the hopes that someone might have some insight. I have created a great deal of unique content for the site http://www.healthchoices.ca. You can select a video category from the top dropdown, then click on a video beside the provider box to see. The articles I've written are accessible by the View Article tab under each video. I have worked hard to make the articles informative and they are all unique with quotes from expert physicians. Even for strange health conditions that don't have a lot of competition - I don't see us appearing. Our search results are quite dismal for the amount of content we have. I guess I'm checking to see if anyone is able to point me in the right direction at all? If anything jumps out... Thanks, Erin
Technical SEO | | erinhealthchoices0