Anchor Text Profile Only Branded
-
So, I was looking at my backlink anchor text profile and easily over 90% of my links use some variation of my brand as the anchor text. This includes my full brand name, a shorter more common name and the naked url. My question is, is this bad for my ranking? I know having too many money words as anchors is not good, but what about having too many brand anchors?
-
While on a smaller scale it may not have a direct influence on ranking (because it is a brand name) it can be an issue if it is overdone. I believe for brand names (in most industries) Google does not penalize as heavily when compared to standard anchor text or keywords. However, moving forward I would try to limit over-usage of your brand name and continue to use the other variations as well.
-
Google allows a higher threshold of brand name anchor texts because that's how people would naturally link to you commonly. That being said, it's good to hear that they are variations, I would keep mixing them up as much as possible.
-
I think it depends on the niche that you are in and what your competitors are doing. If your competitors have a very small percentage of branded anchor text, that could make you stand out, hopefully in a good way. High percentage domain/brand match anchor text is generally a very good SEO practice.
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
-
Google+ SERP Visibility For Non Branded Keywords
Hi, I've noticed that a competitors Google+ box is appearing on the right hand side of the Google UK SERPs for a non-branded keyword (open air balustrade). Please see attached image. I've always thought that the Google+ box would only be displayed in the SERPS for branded keywords. How is this Google+ box appearing for non-branded keywords? How can we improve our chances of our Google+ box being shown instead? Many thanks in advance, Lee. vDm914D
Branding | | Webpresence0 -
A competitor has a search term in their brand name - Can we outrank them for that search term?
Hi Mozzers, I have been putting a lot of work into ranking for a certain search term. We have managed to get our homepage to #3 for that search term. #1 is a comparison site, so I am not overly fussed with beating them - we probably won't. But we do want to hit #2 and in all fairness, we have better content and have put more into our SEO efforts than the current #2. I think they are ranking so strongly because their brand name is exactly that search term with the word "go" in front of it. Google even spits out their extra links under the result as if it was a branded result. I know EMD's don't hold much weight any more so I'm guessing this is all to do with their clever brand name choice. My question is, can you outrank a competitor like that? If you're selling wooden rocking horses and your company is called toybox.com for example, but your competitor is called GoWoodenRockingHorses and their domain is www.gowoodenrockinghorses.com, can toybox.com ever outrank them for the search term "wooden rocking horses"? Hope this makes sense, please private mail me for more info if you need it! Cheers, Jamie
Branding | | SanjidaKazi0 -
How to market a brand when the brand name is constantly changing?
I work in an industry where companies are often being bought up by other larger companies. When this happens, there is often a change in the company name to incorporate the parent company name as well. My company is a distributor of these products and I'm wondering if there are best practices for marketing both the original brand name and the new brand name for the same product? We're trying to avoid any duplicate product detail pages, so dynamically generating the same page for two different names is not ideal. Anyone have any tips? Thanks!
Branding | | GalcoIndustrial0 -
Google Plus for Businesses - Should I add users to Company's Circles (branded page)?
Hi All, I know (or think I know) that one of the easiest ways to gain followers for my brand on G plus is to add people to our company's circles. Naturally, they often add you back. However, what does it mean to people who watch my brand (my G Plus page), the fact that I'm following thousands of people? Should I do it? How does it reflect on us?
Branding | | BeytzNet
Is there a better way to gain followers (specifically for G Plus)? P.S
We obviously have the badge on site but we hardly gain followers that way. Thanks0 -
Knowledge Graph for brand term has stopped appearing
Hi everyone Our brand has an active G+ page (updated daily).
Branding | | bfrl
Our G+ is also linked to our site, verified, and we were lucky enough to get a vanity URL of our choice after our Google overlords confirmed it for us. When searching a specific brand term within Google UK, Knowledge Graph appeared with a link to our G+ page, logo and links to our last two G+ posts.
Much like if you search 'seomoz' This has now mysteriously vanished.
It could be a coincidence but it vanished roughly around the same time as we got our vanity G+ URL. I asked about on Google product forums but to no avail. Anyone else experienced this? Or even know how to get Knowledge Graph back to how it was? Thanks!0 -
Using Alt Text in stock photography good?
Hello, I got a client who told me that he bought his images from a stock photography website. I know it looks awful and all, but the client can't afford a photographer to get some decent pics. So, How positive it is to use Alt Text on images that aren't yours? The purpose of using alt text properly is to get traffic from an imaged based search right? So if the business shows up with some stock photography it looks kinda bad. Is it worth optimizing images in this case? Or just leave em without optimizing? Changing pics isn't an option. Thanks
Branding | | Eblan0 -
Brand Exposure for Increased Awareness
Looking for a mechanism to increase my brand awareness over the web. Has anyone run across a site or method that has helped them expand the awareness of their brand significantly that can be measured?
Branding | | casper4340 -
Looking for examples of a B2B brand spinning off B2C products on to separate websites
Does anyone have any good examples or case studies? Right now I'm working on a site with both B2B and B2C products crowded onto one site. I'd love to find some examples of companies that have built their online B2B brand separately from their consumer products. I found the Constructive Playthings case study on Marketing Sherpa but nothing else.
Branding | | TexaSEO0