Anchor text for links

I'm really having a hard time with this issue

[pmkpmk]

Hi,

we are a manufacturer with a worldwide distributor network. Getting our distributors to link to us is hard enough - getting the to use "good" anchor text is almost impossible.

What they usually do is:

For more information see <a href="http://www.company.com">www.company.com</a>

From what I have read here, in terms of SEO this is pretty useless.

So what would be a good anchor text? Something like the following sounds pretty bombastic to me:

Please visit the website of our <a href="http://www.company.com">supplier of blue widgets at www.company.com</a>

or would:

More information on <a href="http://www.company.com">blue widgets</a> can be found at <a href="http://www.company.com">www.company.com</a>

be the way to do it?

Any advice appreciated!

[Hanu]

Yeah, I usually run into the same problem. In that case, I look at their page and copy the snippet of HTML for one link. I then adjust it to my own needs as far as URL and anchor text are concerned and mail it to them. It is very tempting for them to simply paste the code I sent and bob's your uncle.

[pmkpmk]

The problem is that about 99% of all the sites I'm interested in getting a link from use the simple

Check out <a href="http://www.company.com">www.company.com</a>

way of linking.

[georgeek]

The problem is that about 99% of all the sites I'm interested in getting a link from use the simple
Check out <a href="http://www.company.com">www.company.com</a> way of linking.

I think this is why choosing a domain like keyword1-keyword2.com can be useful.

[pmkpmk]

You have a point there. But we decided long ago to go for branding and - in our niche - are quite successful with it.

[jaffstar]

I think this is why choosing a domain like keyword1-keyword2.com can be useful.

This is very true for the low budget SEO guys. If you take some of the large companies, they have achieved #1 position in Google for "Keyword" where their URL is "company name"

I read some reports on a web hosting company that tried to get desired anchor text , 9/10 they got company name ABC, instead of "keyword".

If you notice the natural linking progression of the internet, many domains that rank #1 for "keyword" usually have www.keyword.com

[pmkpmk]

Please explain on that "natural linking"?!

Me too - a few years ago - considered linking like

Check out <a href="www.company.com">www.company.com</a>

the most obvious, most "natural" way of linking.

Actually I got only aware of anchor text in links through WW, and I STILL consider it a bit artificial. If I want to say "Hey, site XYZ is a good resource for widgets", I do exactly this, making the site's address the link.

[glengara]

I'd avoid the double link, and try to use something like:

If interested, our supplier has more information on <a href="http://www.company.com">blue widgets</a>

[martinibuster]

In corporate settings it can be difficult to get others to put things in anchors. And it's not a matter of having your keywords in the domain name. So it makes your job a little harder.

[eZeB]

I have a competitor with 100% domain link text (< a href= ... >www.domain.com</a>) for about 450 links and they are top 3 in Google and Yahoo, and I have seen this pattern in others.

I believe Matt Cutts said something to the effect that he wanted to see URL in the link text.

I got for 20% domain name link text in link requests -- nice and natural.

[Craig_F]

If you are doing well branding, I'd think that having your url as the anchor text would be a good thing since people are probably searching for you by name.

If you need more than that, it sounds like you need to do a link campaign where you can pretty much set the anchor text you want.

You might also want to try to sort through your current links and see if you can improve any by having them link to a more specific locations. If you can do that, you are helping the linking webmaster and may be able to get a keyword or two in there when you suggest the change.

Another minor item would be to make sure your urls have a keyword in them. I know you stated the domain doesn't, but that doesn't mean your file names and directories can't have one or two. This way at least when some one links to a sub page you'll get a keyword in there.

[pmkpmk]

OK, but I've seen many links along these lines:

Check out the widget section on <a href="http://www.company.com/widgets/blue_widgets.html">www.company.com</a>

However this method is not as widespread as the simple one above, so it's worth trying.