5 Common Anchor Text Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Did you know that 68% of all Internet activity begins with a search engine?

A common practice among Internet users is to click on a result in the search engine’s listings. And many times, the results contain links to different websites or pages on the same website.

These are called anchor text links.

If your anchor text is optimized well, this can be a great way to improve your visibility and traffic. If it’s not optimized well, you could lose customers and hurt your conversion rate.

This article explains common anchor text mistakes and how you can avoid them.

1. Using Generic Terms

If you’re going to use generic terms for your links, try not to overuse them or make them too obvious.

Ideally, you’d have all types of anchor text, a mix of branded keywords and generic ones in each piece of content that you publish on your site. If all of your links are branded and none are generic, it looks like there’s an imbalance in the flow of traffic through your site which could raise red flags with Google.

2. Targeting Keywords With Low Search Volume

This is a mistake that many SEO users make. It’s important to remember that not all keywords have equal value. If your goal is to rank for a keyword with a low search volume, then it’s probably best to avoid using it as an anchor text in your link-building efforts.

If you want some inspiration, use these anchor text examples.

3. Using Too Many Keywords in One Link

It’s important to not overdo it with your anchor text. Google’s algorithm penalizes sites for unnatural or spammy anchor text placement.

Your goal should be to make sure that each link has at least two words of anchor text that apply to the page being linked to. This helps show search engines that what they’re doing is natural and not spammy.

4. Using a Single Word as an Anchor Text

It’s tempting to use one word as the anchor text on your links, but it’s not always effective or safe to do so.

If you want to use one word, make sure it’s positioned at least two words away from any other keywords that appear on the page where it’s linked. It’s best if the keyword is even farther away than that.

5. Using Vague Keyword Terms as Anchor Text

This is important because it tells Google what kind of content the page contains so it knows how relevant it is to searchers who searched for that term or phrase.

If you use vague terms in your anchors, Google will think the page has nothing to do with the keyword in question. It may not rank well for searches related to that term or phrase.

Avoid These Common Anchor Text Mistakes and Boost Your Business

Link-building strategies have changed in recent years, but the underlying principles still hold.

If you make sure you’ve given people a reason to link to you, then your anchor text will take care of itself. And remember to avoid these common anchor text mistakes.

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