We often get asked by our clients what is the most important factor that positively affects rankings. Our research shows that 80% of sites in the top three positions share one thing in common—they use the target keyword in their anchor text. Sites that did not rank as well were missing this important element.
The anchor texts that you use when building links can be divided into four categories:
- Branded/URL: Your brand name (“Cultivate Digital”) or your URL (e.g., “http://www.cultivatedigital.com.au”);
- Generic: Generic terms with no particular meaning eg. “learn more” or “click here”
- Partial Match: A combination of some of your keywords, plus generic terms (“check out these computers”, “these computers work best”)
- Exact Match: The keyword you want to rank for on its own—and no others (“best computer”, “computer reviews”).
Data from our study shows that the top three ranking domains in search engines use an average of 40% branded or URL anchor text and 20%-35% partial match or generic keyword anchors. These domains tend to have fewer than 5% exact-match anchors.
This is consistent with our opinion on Google’s current algorithmic approach. Google understands the content of your pages, who the target audience is, and what a “natural link profile” looks like—in other words, it understands which kind of links are natural and which kinds of links aren’t. Most natural link profiles have low amounts—if any—of exact matches anchor text.
The data is not conclusive, but we consistently observe that most genuine links use some variation of branded/URL or partial match. That’s just how humans write!
We believe our SEO Packages give you the power to control your anchor text ratio. By combining different kinds of links in one package, we free you from having to figure out which ones go best together. We have a variety of search engine optimization packages to help your business succeed online. From links and anchor text, to blogs and social media posting, there is something for everyone here.