Does Anchor Text in Links Count When Google Looks at Overall Keywords on the Page?
-
So, on our site, we have a list of related blog posts on a page that focuses on bamboo flooring.
These blogs posts have anchor text like "What's the best bamboo flooring?" "How to install bamboo flooring." "Yada yada bamboo flooring yada."
Because the main keyword for the page is bamboo flooring, would the presence of these words within anchor text on the page be considered as keywords on the bamboo flooring page, affecting that page and possibly stuffing within that page?
-
Awesome. That's a fantastic way to check. Thank you.
-
Here is a quick experiment you can run. Find a page that has the related links on it. Let's say it is...
http://domain.com/bamboo-flooring
Go to google and type in...
site:domain.com/bamboo-flooring "how to install bamboo flooring"
Does Google show the page or not? If they do, then you know Google is counting the anchor text towards the rankings of that page.
-
Anchor text and other link-related text will definitely count toward keywords and overall in content, as it's an item on the page. As to whether or not these would push your page toward being seen as stuffed, depends wholly on three things:
- Is the rest of your content heavy with that keyword?
- Do the pages to which they link have content that isn't absolutely related to the topic suggested in the anchor text?
- Are there a lot of links with anchor text like this?
If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", then you may want to reconsider things a touch. The short answer is, yes, the anchor text for links is counted as part of the content of a page, and therefore will effect all aspects to which content can be hinged.
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
-
Keyword Plan Of Attack
We have looked up our direct competitor to see what keywords they rank #1 for (aside from their own company name). We have narrowed it down to 3 that we want to focus on. Our plan is to build internal landing pages, external landing pages and beef up our content. Is that a good strategy to start or are we missing something?
Keyword Research | | IcarusSEO0 -
Selecting keywords
hello, i am using google adwords search terms to find keywords, first of all is that a good practice? If it is then i have the below question: What is most important to take into consideration when thinking of a better keyword: a) impressions b) Most conversotions c) Both in a combination i want to import that keywords in moz pro to see search visibility is that the right way? Which keywords are the most important and how can i chase them? i have to mention here that my adwords account is from 2010 so the data are very much!! Please be specific in for answer thanks in advance
Keyword Research | | anavasis0 -
Keywords. Who to trust.
Hello, I'm baby and family photographer. I have done my keyword research. Used Keyword tool. According to the research tool it says that highest local search traffic for baby market would be keywords like cute babies, baby pictures. I asked many of my clients what they would enter in search box if they were to look for baby photographer. Pretty much everyone has said that there would be some form of photographer word in search term with baby word. So like baby photographer, photographers, baby photo studio etc. Unfortunately these type of terms are under 10 searches per month. I have only two relevant pages to target these baby keywords. I'm really wondering who actually uses terms like cute babies, baby pictures. I have a feeling that those searches are made by like photo agencies, newspapers, stock libraries etc. I don't think mum who looks for photographer is suing these search terms. When you do your research, do you take in account metrics or go by more human element and try to look at it from clients perspective. What they would be searching for? Thank you guys, Just don't want to mess up with this and make sure I do the right thing.
Keyword Research | | A_Fotografy1 -
Keywords with no search volume
Hi there! What are your thoughts on optimizing pages for keywords that have no search volume (using the Keyword Planner)? I'm not sure it should be done, since optimizing for keywords that no one searches for is kind of useless, right? Or should I do it hoping that sometime in the future the keyword will have a surge on searches? Thanks!
Keyword Research | | sararufo0 -
Domestic keyword searches
Hello I've spent some much information about how to get the best keywords for my SEO niche page. However, since the recent google changes, different opinions I fond it hard to use something accurate. Also the fact hat may keywords has so many variables, it makes it even tougher and more complex for a new beginner like me. Could anyone please guide me in the right way please? Lets say I would like rankings for Electronic Cigarettes in Norway. It can be written in so many different way, ecig. e-cig. elcig, e cigarette etc etc. (norwegian version ofc) I have for the most part used google keyword planner, but I am really unsure of what boxes to tick and not. I have deleted my wordpress installation and starting from scratch. But I want to make sure I get it 100% right this time before I start.
Keyword Research | | Kroeriks0 -
How do I use two keywords?
Hello! I am ranking very well with a keyword. But that same keyword without an S at the end (making it singural) gets quite a few more searches per month according to Google's Keyword Tool. However, dropping the S just doesn't sound quite right or make as much sense. So how can I target both keywords? Thanks in advance!
Keyword Research | | 2bloggers0 -
On-Page optimization for the Long-Tail
Does anyone have any thoughts about on-page optimization for the long-tail of keywords? I know, I know, the way you capture long-tail searches is by having lots of content. The problem is that I can't convince some of my clients to do anything with content marketing. Even so, I'm noting that as much as half the leads for some small business clients comes from long-tail searches. Meanwhile I spend all my time trying to get their pages to rank for a one or two terms. It seems like there must a scientific way to approach increasing long-tail traffic on pre-existing pages. I'm now experimenting with looking at the frequency of words that appear in searches that the client only receives 1 visit from. Together these one-offs amount to about half the traffic. For instance if I have data like this: Visits Search 1 Training help for my German Shepard 1 German Shepard resources in St. Paul 1 German Shepard clubs etc. etc. Then it makes sense to add some language about German shepards, and perhaps try for anchor text with the 'german shepard' match. Perhaps add a photo with alt text of German Shepard etc. The trouble with this technique is that my main target term for the page might be something like "Dog Training Twin Cities". If I try to increase my long-tail traffic about german shepards I risk creating a frankenpage! I'd love to know if any one else has tried to approach this problem of maximizing long-tail traffic on existing pages without hurting UX. Thanks!
Keyword Research | | JesseCWalker0 -
Big difference in rank on google.com and google.no
Hi Our E-com website went from 8th to 1st spot yesterday for our most important keyword (barneklær = childrens clothing) on google.no weirdly enough we arent ranking on first page at all on google.com . I find this very strange especially since the keyword itself is so country specific - mainly because of the norwegian specific letter - æ. The results are not due to personalization i ve check it with the keyword difficulty tool here on seomoz. The sites ranking higher then me on google.com are sites i am ranking higher then on google.no. Anyone got a good explanation ? The changes for my keyword in ranking i saw yesterday was alot more then i am used to see - almost like google made some sort of script change. we went from 8th to 1st. 1st dropped to 4th, 5ht went to 2nd etc - i am not used to seeing this big changes. Anyone got a clue to either of these 2 questions ?
Keyword Research | | danlae0