Click Here vs. Keyword Links
In light of the whole Google Page Rank Spanking that is happening right this very minute, I thought it might be a fine time to write a little about HOW we link when we blog.
There are two theories in linking best practices:
1. The site you link TO is what is important, so it does not really matter what actual text you using in linking. Hotlinking the words “click here”, “this link”, or “how now brown cow” all have the same outcome since all that matters is that the search engines pick up on where you are aiming your link.
2. Links that use highly relevant keywords carry more weight. There is a large contingent that believes firmly that using specific anchor text will help a site gain higher placement in the search engines for that particular anchor text.
Both theories have their champions and both theories very well may hold a portion of the truth, the full picture if you will. Many a blogger has proven that by asking their readers to link back to them using a random phrase, they soon gain the top spot in at least one search engine for that phrase. On the other hand, I have the top spot in my chosen keywords for at least two of my websites and I am reasonably sure that when people link to the sites, they use the titles of my sites. Those titles are not keyword rich, nor are they even reminiscent of the keywords for which I rank so highly.
What are your thoughts on HOW we link?
No comments yet.