We’ve gone over some ways to find more link sources, and now we’re going to tell you how you can improve the backlinks you’ve already got.

Anchor text is vital to your linking success. In fact, SEOMoz.org ranked the top five factors in search engine optimization (SEO) and keyword focused anchor text from external links came in at the top of the list.

It actually ranked higher than external link popularity. That means that the words anchoring the backlink are more important than the site the backlink is on!

So now that you understand how powerful anchor text is, how can you harness it?

Word Power

Anchor text refers to the text that is displayed in hyperlink. Search engines use anchor text to determine link relevancy. The text that is hyperlinked is coded, and is read by the search engine spider bots. From that code, the bots understand what the linked-to page is about.

A good example of how search engines use and understand anchor text is the search results for ‘click here.’ The first return is for Adobe Reader. That’s a result of the number of times people have linked to Adobe with the words ‘click here’ as the anchor text!

Anchored to Success

What anchor text is being used when websites link to you?
Domain names and page titles are very common anchor text choices, so if you have a keyword in either (or both) you’ll have an SEO advantage.

If you’re not sure what the anchor text is for your backlinks, do a quick search on the sites you know are linking to you, and make sure it’s at least your domain name or page title.

A description of the page content in place of the page title is fine, as long as it’s relevant to your site and includes a keyword. For instance, if you are arranging a backlink to a blog post on bike trails in Utah, for your website on “Bike Trails across the United States,” your anchor text could be “Utah’s best bike trails” even if you called the post “Biker’s Guide to Utah.” The anchor text would still include keywords from the post and from your site.

If you have a hand in the backlink, either you’ve set it up, or the webmaster from the linking site has reached out to you, make sure the anchor text for the backlink will be useful to you and your SEO efforts.

You can talk to the site owner or webmaster about changing the anchor text as needed, and email them the text you would prefer. Check the relevancy and keyword-use in the anchor text for your backlinks. Inserting a keyword or refining the description can make a difference in your page rank.

So check your anchors, and don’t let this SEO opportunity sail away!