Regionally Codec Link Text.

About including regional info into link text.

[killroy]

I have a problem regarding Googles preference for link text.
I have a large directory local to this country. I rank high on many single word keywords and get traffik from all over the world. But certain competitive categories (such as tourism related stuff) I get beaten out by other local sites (due to their focus on those areas).

So for example I'd have a category "Restaurants" bout for the search "CountryName Restaurants" I'd be outranked by others. Now in an experiment I renamed te category to read "CountryName Restaurants", and BINGO one crawl later it ranked #1.

Now my dilema is that I feel I could have HEAVENLY rankings if I just change 1000s of keyword links across docends of pages to read:
"CountryName shoes"
"CountryName shirts"
"CountryName sweaters"
"CountryName socks"
"CountryName trousers"
and so on, you get the idea.

Of course for human visitors it wouldn't make any sense. If they go to "CountryName Directory" they asume things in it are from CountryName.

What can I do to focus my link texts better for this regional strength without alienating my visitors with silly repetitios words across my pages?

SN

[jdMorgan]

SN,

Maybe work a little "promotional text" into the links, or emphasize national pride? Whatever works without looking too "silly".

Best shoes for Marzipania's (beaches, climate, mountain hiking)
Great restaurants in Feezelmarsh, Marzipania
Marzipania's favorite shirts
Trousers made in Marzipania
...

This depends on your market and local sensibilities or course, but you ought to be able to find something that will work.

Jim

[killroy]

The problem is the format. It's not a cute little website. It's a large hardcore database.
Some pages have 100s of links. It's basically an online App, only marginally resemblign a website. it's all about usability and efficiency, and I'm afraid that my SEO manuverability is limited.

Is there any other way to compensate for the lack of certain vital words in link text? Perhaps via titel or alt tags or the url strings?

SN