Targeted Keywords / Phrases as Anchor Text for Links and Surrounding Text To Help Search Engine Relevancy and Page Rank - Miva Merchant

Targeting keywords and phrases in and around the anchor text of links on your website, and on other websites linking to you, can make a big impact on your rankings in the search engines and page rank.  Search engines will pick up on how you describe the actual link which is called the anchor text and phrases around it as well. These things can make the page that is being linked seem more relevant based on the keywords and phrases that are around and describe it. For example:

We specialize in wickets, widgets, and whispets.  Widgets are great for people like you who love wickets and whispets as well.  Whispets have some special features that you don't even know about.   To find out more, click here. (*click here is considered the anchor text)

Everyone has seen and probably even used the phrase, click here.  It seems logical and even very helpful to the end user by describing the link with these words.  However, when it comes to search engine optimization, these words are not descriptive at all.  Why is the user clicking there?  What is on that page?  If you analyze the example paragraph above, the targeted keywords and phrases seem to be wickets, widgets, and whispets.  If "click here" is pointing to a page devoted to whispets, then the link should contain that phrase.  Search engines pick up not only the words and phrases around links but the actual words in the links themselves.  Here is an example of how to change the sample paragraph to target whispets.

We specialize in wickets, widgets, and whispets.  Widgets are great for people like you who love wickets and whispets as well.  Whispets have some special features that you don't even know about.   Read more about whispets. (*whispets is considered the anchor text)

It would be a good idea to search for all instances of the phrases, "click here", "more info", and other non-descriptive links on your site and replace them with more descriptive words and phrases that target what is on the linked page.  Once you have taken care of all internal linking on your Miva Merchant website, it is time to worry about the external links to your site and Miva Merchant store from elsewhere on the web.  How do they describe your links?  Most likely they are using your company or Miva Merchant store name.  You should take the time, or hire someone, to find out who is linking to your website and respectfully ask them to modify your links with targeted keywords and phrases.  To find out who links to you, read our resource article on finding out who links to your Miva Merchant store and website.

*If you need help selecting which words to use, try WordTracker, a keyword and keyphrase research tool.

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