Branded vs non branded keyword question
-
I have been doing a lot of research about my competitors on open site explorer and have come to see that most of them are getting a high percentage of links from branded anchor text. It is almost to the point where they are not even using any keyword terms as anchor text. I have a few questions:
1. why are they doing this
2.. how are they ranking for keyword terms when I cannot find any anchor text in their link profile that reflects their target keywords.
3. is it better for me to focus on building branded anchor text keywords than to do exact match keyword terms especially after the panda update
4. if it is better for me to focus on branded anchor text only, how do i rank for keyword terms?
-
Recently Google has been taking a closer look at anchor text, because exact keyword anchor text isn't really how "natural" links (i.e. links you didn't build) look. Ben has a great point that natural link growth usually means anchor text that is either your brand name or your URL. Rob Kerry recently did a Whiteboard Friday on the Penguin update that may shed some more light on your predicament: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-penguin-update-whiteboard-friday
A majority of your inbound links should not have exact keyword match anchor text. Instead, focus more on building overall link volume, both for your domain and individual pages. Try to get links from high-authority sites, and create pieces of content that people want to share and link to - these are link building strategies that will be more successful than a hyper-focus on anchor text, whether branded, keyword or "click here."
I think the steps Ben outlines above are a great start.
-
thanks for the response but im curious, I have already been building links using exact match anchor text and have been ranking fairly well forbthose terms. Would building branded anchor text terms help increase my rankings for terms im already going after?
what do you think a good link profile looks like in respect to branded vs non branded anchor txt?
-
1. It could be natural link growth. Often when a webmaster links to you they will do so using your brand name or a URL.
2. All links to a domain increase the domain authority. It could be that they have strong domains which outweigh the need to have exact match anchor text. This is especially true if they're big brands- think about how Amazon ranks for so many products without actually having links to those product pages.
3. That's a strategic decision that varies depending on your site's circumstances. New site with no links = build branded anchor text. Old site with lots of branded anchor text already = build some exact match anchor text (but not too much obviously).
4. Focus on branded anchor text BUT throw some love at your product pages occasionally as well. You'll probably be able to drive some long tail traffic just by virtue of having unique content on the page and as your domain authority grows this will not only increase long tail traffic but also rankings for those exact match term.
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
-
What are he benefits of getting 200+ links from DA 40+ non-relevant websites?
I have a client who has an opportunity to sponsor a prestigious national organisation. In return, they will get 200+ links from the websites of the organisation's members. Most of which are DA 40+.None of the linking sites have any relevance to my client's industry.1) How likely do you think it is that Google will view these as paid links?2) Do you feel that there is potential harm in gaining this many non-relevant links in a short time-frame?3) The client wants me to quantify the ranking benefits of gaining these links and calculate a potential ROI. If that's even possible, how would you go about that?Thanks in advance
Link Building | | richdan2 -
Question about placing links
My company have a website about car related business. I have found around 8-10 sites that is car related which can place links to me. I am wondering whats the best way to make this most effective. I have been writing 8 different texts with maybe 200-250 words each which i plan to use on the sites that is going to link to my site. Should i use exact anchors links or should i use different anchors on every site so it looks more natural? My site today does not have much quality links to it which i believe can make problem when you get 8-10 new sites linking that is very related and have a nice content? How long time should i wait when i put a link to each site to make it less unnatural? Happy for any answer! 🙂
Link Building | | Rob-0 -
Footer Links Question
I work at a web development firm and we put site wide links in each of our clients footers (I know this is awful and I am in the process of changing this) that read "web design by, web development by, hosting by,,,etc". My question is, I am in the process of deleting the site wide links and just leaving the links on the home page, but 1. should I get rid of the links all together, that are on sites that have a pr:2 or lower? 2. should I change the footer links, so they aren't all the same text?
Link Building | | BTMSEO0 -
Blog Comments Criteria Question
When I am commenting on blogs to get links, what criteria should I use to make sure the blog is valuable and wont hurt me in the long run?
Link Building | | bigeyecreative0 -
Are Directory Links a Good Source of Branded Links?
I am trying to increase the number of branded links for a few of my sites since the links are too heavily weighted on anchor text. If so, would you recommend a service like Directory Maximizer?
Link Building | | rise10 -
Should Penguin makes me question all reciprical links, even relevant ones?
Prior to Penguin, I had begun a link building campaign of sorts for a tourism bureau. All it was designed to do was leverage a wealth of relevant link opportunities that were right under our noses...the bureau's own members. These restaurants, hotels, attractions, etc are extremely relevant web sites with respect to the tourism bureau's target and niche. The links were to be in the form of image badges stating "Proud member of..." with brand-only alt text and title tags. I will focus on keeping these links a reasonable percentage of the overall domains linking into the site, I will vary the alt text throughout, and cultivate the links slowly over a 5-month period. But since the bureau's site already drives traffic to these individual member sites, the links we cultivate will end up being reciprocal. Even though they are natural in the purpose they serve, should we be worried, and consider abandoning the program?
Link Building | | VCOMM0 -
Blog. vs /Blog
I need to be able to explain to a client the difference from an SEO perspective between Blog. vs /Blog. www.website.com/Blog vs Blog.website.com The client wants to know which one will help there website with SEO. I belive both will but /Blog will more. I'm looking for a tangible answer only centered around this subject. Thanks,
Link Building | | cfield_splashmedia.com0 -
Links on the same keyword
When is linking from one particular keyword to much. At what point could link building from one keyword be considered spam and potentially delist a site ? Is it possible for a site to be delisted for having to many links from the same keyword ? Heard linking from the website name is more important following recent changes. I try and link from a selection of 3 to 4 keywords. Thanks for your help
Link Building | | onlinemediadirect0