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Hi.

Is there an approximate guide to avoid over optimizing anchor text for a particular key-phrase? i.e. is 20% of back-links using the anchor text [HR Software] OK or too much?

Thanks in advance

I've just run an on page audit of my website www.octopus-hr.co.uk and it seems in reasonable shape. However, I wonder whether I'm missing a trick with the Image Alt for my company logo. The logo appears on every page and links back to the home page.

Currently the Alt tag is just the Company name "Octopus".

We develop HR Software and we would love to rank better for the term "HR Software". Is it legitimate to change the alt tag to "Octopus HR Software" for my logo or is considered spam and likely to get us hit with a penalty?

Thanks in advance

David

Thanks for your advice Bryan, extremely helpful.

Thanks for everyone's responses, I've been blown away by how generous you've all been with your time. As a few people have raised the same points I've added a bit more information below:

• URL is www.octopus-hr.co.uk
• Search Terms are things like "HR Software" "HR System"
• I have regular catch ups with my agency about the work they've been doing, what links they've built etc. The trouble is that they just aren't able to give an accurate estimate on when we'll move into top 3 position for these 2 phrases.
• We don't currently have a blog although we are launching one in September (just building up a bank of content to use at the moment).

Anyway, thanks again everyone.

Hi Mozzers.

My company uses an SEO agency. They are building links from relevant sites but, since hiring them around 9 months ago our SERPs for our important search terms have remained pretty static (dropping slightly).

I'm in charge of my company's marketing budget so need to make decisions about ROI when determining where best to invest my resources.

It seems to me that it ought to be possible to predict (with a fair degree of accuracy) how long it's likely to take us to move up the SERPs based upon an analysis of our website, link profile and how it's changing over time vs those of our competitors. Unfortunately my SEO agency keeps dodging this question.

• Am I being unreasonable in expecting this?
• Is what I've described above even possible?
• If it is possible what are the factors you would consider when trying to make such a prediction?

Thanks for your help

David

Thanks for everyone's responses, I've been blown away by how generous you've all been with your time. As a few people have raised the same points I've added a bit more information below:

• URL is www.octopus-hr.co.uk
• Search Terms are things like "HR Software" "HR System"
• I have regular catch ups with my agency about the work they've been doing, what links they've built etc. The trouble is that they just aren't able to give an accurate estimate on when we'll move into top 3 position for these 2 phrases.
• We don't currently have a blog although we are launching one in September (just building up a bank of content to use at the moment).

Anyway, thanks again everyone.

Thanks for your advice Bryan, extremely helpful.