With apologies for the cheap trick of mentioning Paris Hilton to get your attention, taking ownership of the idea you’re about to discover is vitally important to your success with search engines!
Because while it’s true that there are many factors that determine how well a page ranks in Google, did you know that one stands out above the rest? It is link text. (Also known as anchor text?)
So much so that link text can be the deciding factor when chasing top rankings for extremely competitive keywords.
And it sure can’t hurt for fewer search terms.
You’ll see that link text creates what’s known as “link reputation.” Have enough links that use the same phrase as the link text and Google can’t help but conclude that’s what the linked page is about.
Yes, but… how powerful is the link text of inbound links really?
Well guess what? It is so powerful that you can get the best listings for a given keyword phrase without the keyword phrase appearing anywhere on the page.
Since I can sense your skepticism from here, let me test it using 6 examples that I was able to dig up in about 15 minutes. Beginning with
===> The mystery of “website traffic”
I first did a search for “website traffic” on Google.
When I did the search (and we both know things can change) this site, [http://buytraffic.1st-casinoaffiliateprograms.com]was positioned at position #3.
Casino affiliates?
Not necessarily what would come to mind as a site that deals with website traffic now, right?
However, as hard as I tried, when I searched that page for the term “website traffic”, I couldn’t find it. Not even once. But when I went looking for the links to that page, this is what I found:
“Buy website traffic – casino traffic –
You can choose to buy website traffic or if you own a
online casino you can buy complete packages that include
subscriptions, banner displays and unique visitors. This can
drive your website traffic and subscriptions dramatically.”
Hey? Check it out? That listing has “website traffic” in the link text. And a couple more times in the description.
I guess the only possible explanation for the number 3 spot in “website traffic” is the link text. That is what it is
making that page rank #3 for that term.
===> Cellular
For example, two I searched under “cell phone”. This time, Sprint PCS ranked fifth out of 5.1 million ads on Google.
Once again, the term “cell phone” did NOT appear anywhere on your page.
===> Laptop/Examples of Laptops
Then I tried “laptop”. The Apple Powerbook list came in at #4. However, and you guessed it, the word “laptop” was nowhere to be found on that page.
Since I was in the neighborhood, for the fourth example I gave “laptops” a try. The site http://www.discountlaptops.com> was ranked #4 out of 5,910,000 competitor pages when I did that search. However, once again, the word “laptops” doesn’t appear on that page either.
Sure enough, a backlink check turned up this from the Yahoo directory:
“Discount Laptops – retailer of new and
refurbished laptops.
Oh, and I found the exact same list on DMOZ. Since it featured “Discount Laptops” as the link text, it’s natural for Google to conclude that the page is about what else. Portable!
===> Jobs
Monster.com is currently ranked #1 for the search term “jobs.” Again, (starting to see a trend here?) the word “jobs” doesn’t even appear on that page.
===> Money
I finally looked under “money”. Perched in 16th place was the MasterCard website. http://www.mastercard.com> Here, too, the word “money” was not used once in the display text.
===> Summarizing this link text material
Based on the evidence when it comes to ranking high in Google, saying that link text trumps everything is surely not too strong a statement.
In fact, it is absolutely positively true. Focusing on link text is a surefire Google SEO tactic. Yes, content counts, but link text counts more…
Make the link text as close to something safe as you can get.
Simply put, link text, which is used to build your site’s link reputation, is one of the most powerful SEO techniques out there. It gives you a ranking boost like nothing else. Use narrowly focused link text with links from high PR pages and you’ve got an unstoppable combination.
So are you harnessing the power of link text?
Do you consistently receive links with the appropriate link text on them?
If not, why not?
Because as I’ve shown you, link text really tops it all.