Previously we discussed SEO basics and on-page optimisation. But ‘Off-Page’ SEO is what’s really important. It’s rather like a voting scheme. One website volunteers a link or vote to another website. The first site is advocating support for the other.
This link consists of two major parts. Firstly it contains the specific URL of the page. Then secondly the keyword phrase. This will be highlighted on the web page. This equates to a vote being generated for that exact page. In other words one ‘vote’ to push the website up the natural listings.
This is the way it works. The anchor text and page pointed to are irrevocably tied together. You can only proffer a vote for a web page that has anchor text highlighted. The listings would be chaotic without anchor texts. SE’s wouldn’t know what terms to list sites under without them. It’s ESSENTIAL to understand this - Your site will only come up in searches it has anchor texts for.
Thus you’ll understand why highlighting ‘Click Here…’ creates no value in SEO terms. The phrase ‘CLICK Here’ is what we’ve voted for! Who thinks of typing in ‘CLICK HERE’ when they’re doing a search? There isn’t anybody.
That’s why it’s so necessary to use the right anchor text. For it represents all the phrases your site will be listed for. And by the way, if you DO Google “Click Here” you will always find the Adobe Reader download site at the top. Is that because it describes their site? Of course not! It’s simply that ‘click here’ features on so many sites to download Adobe Reader.
So the Search Engines draw on the anchor text ‘phrase’. It’s quite sensible really. Search Engines seek to replicate how an actual person would look for something. But in many ways your actual page content is irrelevant. For if the text that is pointing to your site says Blue Flowers, then that is what you will be listed for! That’s irrefutable!
Of course, it’s not quite as simple as that… The wording on a page being pointed at and its title are taken into account by the Search Engines. And a wealth of other details also. Just as an example - they’ll look at the spread and relevancy of the ‘voting’ sites.
But the essence of this shows that the single most important factor in SEO is lots of back-links. And they must come from a great diversity of sites, and have properly phrased anchor texts. How much authority a site has is also relevant… It’s less valuable getting a back link from the local pizza takeaway than from Cisco.com!
Take time to make sure you have the appropriate keywords in place. (And you should perform a lot of keyword and competitor research before putting any strategy into place.) It really boils down to one thing: What do people type into the search box when they’re trying to find your service or product? When you know that, you know which keyword phrases and anchor text to use.
Interesting answers often come up when you do your researches and tests. As a matter of fact, the phrases are very often not at all what you’d expect. Human beings are odd creatures and we all have our own ideas of how to find what we want. You may think to Google “quality mattresses” if you’re hoping to sleep better. While someone else might automatically think to say ‘I need more sleep’.
Hypothesising on likely phrases is very unreliable. A lot of measuring, testing and research of each term is of vital importance. They’ll form the basis of ALL the visitors you’ll get to your website. It’s just like having an ad in a telephone Directory. You won’t receive any calls if you’re listed under an inappropriate heading. Careful keyword research and analysis is the key to effective SEO.
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