If Anchor Text is dead, how do I target certain keywords?

[CleanEdisonInc]

I get it, a truly authoritative source will not be able to control the exact anchor text that others link to it with. Google is trying to deliver the most authoritative source, so non-exact anchor text is more likely a good option for them.

This makes total sense and I have been varying the anchor text of my blog posts.

But this begs the question: How am I supposed to know I am increasing my rankings for the high volume key words in my industry, and not leaving it up to Google to decide which keywords are most important?

[irvingw]

anchor text will never die as long as Google uses links as a major ranking factor in their algorithm. Think extremely varied long tail anchor texts.

[TakeshiYoung]

Anchor text is not dead.

Updates such as Penguin may have penalized sites with excessive, unnatural amounts of spammy exact anchor text links, but as long as you don't overdo it, anchor text still matters a lot.

To optimize your site for specific keywords, make sure all your onsite optimization is taken care of: have you keywords in your title, URL, copy, etc. Then make sure your site is relevant to the keywords you are targeting, that will get people to naturally link to you with those keywords.