Anchor text - the best way

anchor text

[jsnow]

A bit of advice would be appreciated on the best use of anchor text. If I was trying to build up anchor text for widgets, would it be affected by putting ABC Widgets (ABC being initials of company).

The reason for this is that the majority of links pages/directories are alphabetic and if it was simply widgets it ends up on page 20 where there is no PR

What is the expert opinion?

[dillonstars]

I have found that if I use a 3 word phrase (say keyword1 keyword2 keyword3) for my anchor text I do not rank very well for "keyword1 keyword2" or "keyword2 keyword3" automatically. I needed to acquire different links focusing specifically on those phrases to come up for them

By that logic I put exactly the keyword that I wish to appear in the SERPS for in the anchor text.

If you anticipate lots of click through traffic from the directory (i.e. if it is a specialist niche directory) then yes, getting it closer to the top of the page could be advantageous.

I also use broader (more competitive) anchor text phrases on higher PR pages.

[greenfrog]

does it weigh the same to have <a> keyword </a> as an internal link...

or is it better to have it as an external link?

[dillonstars]

does it weigh the same to have <a> keyword </a> as an internal link...

or is it better to have it as an external link?

Sorry, I don't really understand what you are asking.

The only thing that weighs (as far as i know) is PageRank, and it is better to get links from high PR pages, whether they are from your own site or an external site - is this what you meant?

[agerhart]

does it weigh the same to have <a> keyword </a> as an internal link...

or is it better to have it as an external link?

It is better to have a incoming link from an external website with keyword link text. Internal links help as well, but an external link has more power.

[ppg]

I believe that anchor text from external links carries more weight than internal, based on stuff I've read here, not my own testing. Very reliable source though.

[Gus_R]

Just think in users and SEs, anchor text is main issue for ranking and it's users will see in a same manner of title at serps also.
Propose a good phrase for attract the user with your keywords in it, matching your <title> and <h1> tags and others terms people will watch first when land at your page.
It helps to get links too, webmasters will check if anchor corresponds what are they linking.

[dillonstars]

It is better to have a incoming link from an external website with keyword link text. Internal links help as well, but an external link has more power.

I know this is often assumed but I have never seen any evidence to support this.

It is also not my experience either. I have only noticed link weight differences caused by PR. Unfortunately as it is impossible to see the exact PR for a page, it is very difficult to test.

I think a mix of internal and external links to your site is important though, so as to weather any future changes to the algo.

Also, it is more likely that a high PR link will come from an external site - at least if your own site is not yet established.