Exact match anchor text is negative signal?

[VasilTasev]

Hi all,

I am wondering if the exact match anchor text is 100% negative signal after the penguin. I mean even from relevant sites and natural use.

During the last 2 weeks I see negative SERP changes and I start to think that it is because exact match keyword anchor text is used. I also use some other anchor texts along with it all the time.. but now I think of using 100% exact match anchor free links.

Does anybody have similar observations?

Thank you in advance.

[bronxpad]

It's a balancing act. Google is looking for natural links, not paid or self directed. So percentages are good but you should also randamize your anchor text. If you develop a pattern, eventually the algo can determine that it is un natural. I would identify your most important keywords, maybe 5 and then mix in your brand name and the standard Click Here. Rotate them in a random way and you should be ok. Note your Brand should be the anchor text most often used. I hope this helps and good luck.

[Andropenis_Australia]

It depends how many exact match achors you have out there, from what sites and how relevent it is to your domain/title and content.

If your site is joeblow.com and it's content is about horse racing but you have 100 achors for "best horse racing tips" becuause that's what you want to rank for it is indicitive to google those links may not be natural and if deemed so you may lose some of the ranking juice from those links.

Devaluation of links has been a huge going on lately in the google backyard. Especially since Mr penguin migrated from the icy slopes.

[GregFindley.co.uk]

Good point Russ, I guess the days of being able to analyze your links from a purely % point of view are numbered, if not, over.

[HiveDigitalInc]

I concur mostly with what Greg said, but I must add that it is no longer simply about %. Keeping a safe anchor text threshold has been a staple of quality SEO firms for the last 5 years. Instead, what is more likely going on, is that particular links get flagged based on some metric which, in turn, triggers some sort of deeper review (perhaps getting lumped into the next Penguin analysis).

Thus, it is not solely in your best interest to maintain a safe percentage, it is even more important to ensure that none of the links you acquire or have acquired in the past might be one of those triggers. This means avoiding any known networks, only doing in-content links, etc.

[GregFindley.co.uk]

Hi Vasil,

I don't think having exact match anchor text is a negative signal in itself, as there are some sites and brands built on the back of an exact match domain name. It's more about the %'s involved, if you've focused on exact match anchor text too much over more branded terms, and more natural looking anchor text (eg. www.brandname.com, brandname.com, click here, brand name product, product name, etc.) then you may have suffered with the latest updates.

Here's some links for SEOMoz blog posts that might be of interest to you on this topic;

May 2nd, 2012 - http://www.seomoz.org/blog/penguins-pandas-and-panic-at-the-zoo
Jan 5th, 2012 - http://www.seomoz.org/blog/all-about-anchor-text-whiteboard-friday
Sep 8th, 2011 - http://www.seomoz.org/blog/beyond-exact-match-anchor-text-to-next-generation-link-signals-whiteboard-friday

Hope that helps.
Greg