Anchor text in blog boilerplate
-
At the end of our company blog posts, we have a short paragraph about our main service using anchor text linking to the homepage. I read somewhere (but can't for the life of me find it again) that this method can lead to Google ranking these blog posts lower than if they weren't there.
Is there any correlation between internal linking using boilerplate anchor text and lower ranking for those internal pages? I understand that this isn't a top priority as Google is placing less value on anchor text, but don't want to do anything that could potentially hurt, either.
Thanks.
-
I'm sure people on this forum can come up with plenty of theories, but the easiest way to get a definitive answer is to test it.
Remove the anchor text for a few weeks, and see if rankings change, then add it back in again and see if there is an impact. My guess is that a small change like this won't move the needle either way, but if you want to obsess over the small details test it and see what happens.
For bonus points, add Google Analytics tracking code and see if anyone even clicks on the link. If the users aren't clicking on it, then it makes sense to go ahead and remove it.
-
Is the blog hosted on the same domain as your main website? Like www.domain.com/blog?
If so, there probably isn't any harm in in unless you have thousands of blog posts. In reality, though, I would vary up the tag. It can get old for your readers, as well as the robots. If your blog is hosted off site, though, things change a bit.
Things to consider, though:
-
What % does this make up of the content on the page?
-
Does this cause your pages to have an enormous amount of the exact match internal link?
-
Would my readers want to see this every week/day/hour?
-
-
Well the more links in the blog post pages, the more you are passing that PR to other pages, so not just that link but all other navigation links will add to less PR retained on that page, so consider not overdoing navigational links.
A sidewide footer link with same anchor text is not really good for SEO, so I would suggest variations when you link. Why are you linking to the homepage there though, if you could link to a call to action page like a signup or free demo page for example that might be better than simply taking the user back to the homepage.
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
-
Why do bots spam my wordpress blog comments?
anyone with a wordpress blog knows what i am talking about. but why do they do this? my theory is that it is for backlinks, but aren't all wordpress comment links nofollow? i am just curious as to what these robots think they are gaining by flooding my blog comments section. Thanks, Ryan
Link Building | | RyanMeighan2 -
'Powered by...' anchor text links
Hi Mozzers! We're a web design and dev agency in Kent, UK who don't really provide SEO services (tend to outsource and focus on our core competencies!) Have never really bothered putting 'Powered by...' or 'built by...' anchor text links at the foot of our client sites that link back to ours. Obvs we have a huge back catalogue of opportunities to add this to various sites which, if clients agree of course, would push our backlinks above our key competitors overnight (according to OSE). Good idea or Spammy/back hattie??? Cheers guys.
Link Building | | mjs_adr0 -
Google to devalue guest blog links?
There's a lot of talk at the minute about google possible devaluing guest post links. I wondered what people thought of this and whether it is likely to happen? If it does happen then how will google identify 'spam' guest posts and links? I guess it's fair to assume that if the post is well written, autoriative and adds value to a site with a knoweldgable perspective then it will be counted? It can be very hard to define how google will define a 'quality guest post'? Any ideas? Here's what Matt has to say... http://www.webpronews.com/matt-cutts-weighs-in-on-guest-blogging-for-links-2012-10
Link Building | | SamCUK0 -
How to promote my guest blog posts?
I have been using mybloguest.com and the articles were published by its blogs/websites. So far the traffics/share/likes from those blog posts they published are very few/small. I believe the blog post are very useful and unique. How can I promote them so that I get more social likes/share? Any idea? Thanks Stephen
Link Building | | LauraHT0 -
Guest blogging
several people have suggested that i try guest blogging as a way to improve my site's position but i am wondering how do i go about finding the right blogs to contribute to? for example, my clients are usually dentists. how do i know what would be a good blog to write to for that industry? also, how do i link back to the site, in the content or the signature?
Link Building | | dad7more0 -
How do I start trying to get links from blogs
Do I just find blogs websites that are in the same topical area and ask them can i link back?
Link Building | | Feily0 -
Blogging to add SEO value to site... recommendations
Hi Mozzers! A client has a high authority website in the travel industry, and needs any and all advantages to get ahead in very competitive keywords. The send out a newsletter bimonthly, but have no blog, so I recommended at the very least, they publish online their emailed newsletters to add informational and relevant content. The question is, for max SEO value, should they... create a blog as a subdomain or subfolder of their existing site? should they self host a blog with a separate domain? or should they simply use a blogger/wordpress.com free blog? Consider that just adding on a blog to their existing site isn't easy. It's some old CMS that's apparently a nightmare to deal with. Plus, branding a WP install to match the site isn't something they want to spend a lot of time on. Your insight is welcome and appreciated!
Link Building | | rosstaylor0 -
Two Links, Same Anchor Text, To Same Page. Is There A Point?
Hey guys, My question is this. Let's say I have an article, "How To Golf". I post this article onto my blog. Then I write a complementary article to the first article called "Introduction To Golf". My plan is to submit this new article to various directories to build backlinks for the article on my blog. So here lies my question. Say I am allowed two links from my new article to the one on my blog. The anchor text I am using is "golf". Is there a point to including two links with the same anchor text (golf) in the new article pointing back to my blog article? When Google spiders the complementary article will it consider the links two separate links with the anchor text "golf" or will it just count the two links as one link. After all, the two links have the same anchor text and are both pointing to the same page.
Link Building | | lawrenceyu11130