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Getting found by your ideal readers: Anchor Text and Bio Boxes

October 1, 2012 By 16 Comments
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Speaking to a client on Friday, I quickly established that her keyword anchor text needed varying for her guest blogging campaigns.  She wasn’t sure of what I meant so I decided a post was needed :)  Anchor for anchor text post

What is Anchor Text?

Anchor text or link text are words or a phrase that are clickable. It usually gives the reader an indication of what to expect when you click that link.

Example – if you are new to blogging you might like to take a look at my blogging glossary which contains all the terminology that bloggers use.

If you click the link, you are expecting to be taken to a page about the language of blogging. Anchor texts also help explain to search engines what your link is about. If your anchor text links to something relevant that will help your SEO strategy. If you link to something irrelevant then you might get tagged as spam by the search engine.

Anchor text can be used in your posts, your pages, in your email signatures, in forum signatures and other places, as well as your bio for guest blogging. If you use it in your posts, you can use it to sign post content that expands upon what you are saying (like I did with blogging glossary) or to indicate your source of inspiration / knowledge.

If you need to know how to add a hyperlink then this page will help you.

What is natural looking anchor text?

One of the things that has come from all the Google algorithm updates is that varied keyword anchor text is better for you. That means when you create links in forum signatures, bio boxes and other places that the text is organic and natural looking. It means you are not looking to hyperlink just one of your keywords or phrases all of the time.

There are tonne of articles going through the science of what is natural and organic looking anchor text and what is not. And I’m not going to agree or disagree with any of them. I’ll just say, natural doesn’t look false or fake, it changes, has typos and isn’t perfect all of the time. Sometimes it will be keyword rich anchor text and sometimes it may just be the website name hyperlinked. The only consistent aspect would be the keywords are varied.

Examples:

Burgandy Boudoir sell awesome steel bone corsets that suck your waist in by 4 inches.

The Burgandy Boudoir stock waist training corsets, stop by and check them out.

The Burgandy Boudoir: the place that stocks 50 different types of steel bone corset

All of the links point back to the steel boned corset page, and they are varied but relevant.

Links can also just be the web address like http://www.sarkemedia.com or www.sarkemedia.com or sarkemedia.com, all those phrases can be hyperlinked, yet still be both natural and organic.

Bio boxes

When guest posting your bio is important, it explains who you are and why you are an expert at what you do.  It should invite people to clickthrough via your keyword rich (but varied) anchor text.

You link in the bio box is your “payment” for the guest post, and it should be both respectful to the site owner (if they are or could be a competitor) and useful to the reader. So an example of this might be…

Sonya sells corsets online, she specialises in Steel Bone Corsets. If you’d like to know more about how corsets can train your waist (and get special offers) stop by her site and subscribe.

The hyperlink to her site can be in a few places:-

  1. Steel Bone Corsets
  2. Corsets Can Train Your Waist
  3. Subscribe
Okay, so the subscribe option isn’t that great for SEO, but it is a good example of a call to action and your bio should have one of those.
The same bio could be used multiple times with the anchor text varied in each use. The bio can also be used as a forum signature and as a meta description for the blog  post.

Getting found

Your bio alone won’t usually get you found in the search engines. Unless someone copies and pastes it into it to see where you’ve been posting ;) .
You still have to add key phrases and key words in your headlines, to  attract in the right kind of reader. The right kind of reader is the one who will find the post useful, informative and will want to share it.
So the headline for posts surrounding the steel bone corsets on a diet site could be ” Kick start your weight loss with a steel bone corset” or “How to get into your little black dress (without dieting)”. They indicate to the reader that they are in the right place, and they know what to expect when reading the post.
Getting found is relatively easy with Twitter and Facebook, but that’s being found in the short term. To be found over the long term you need to write for your ideal reader, use anchor text, meta descriptions and your bio box to full effect.
Blog traffic isn’t like a flood, it’s more like a series of land slides and avalanches – it needs nudges and triggers to help you get the result you want.

 

 

Sarah Arrow

Sarah Arrow

Director of Special Projects at Sark eMedia
Blogging an issue for you? Social media not quite working how it should be? I started out as a transport blogger for a same day courier company, and grew into a kick-ass blog coach as well as creator of Birds on the Blog (listed 3 times by Forbes as a top 100 website for women). You want your blog to make a difference, so subscribe here and stay in touch, my updates will help you connect the dots.
Sarah Arrow
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Comments

  1. Paula Kemp says:
    October 1, 2012 at 8:11 pm

    Thanks Sarah for explaining anchor text’s, like your client I have heard of them, but didn’t know what they were, so now I have no excuse not to use them :)
    Paula Kemp recently posted..Do I need to drink water after a massage?My Profile (dofollow)
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  2. Nick Catricala says:
    October 2, 2012 at 12:14 am

    Sarah,
    wow, I did not know anchors exist in our business.. thanks so much for yoru post and expanationa nd examaples and most of ll, for the care that you put into it so it seam to be a simple thing to do.. wow, I had to read it two times to truly grasp what you wrote (not yoru fault, i is mine when I get introduced to something new that I am interested :-)
    I will pay attention as I go along in our business, knowing how to use thse anchors will help us for sure.
    thanks again.
    nickc
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  3. Susan Joy Schleef says:
    October 2, 2012 at 12:50 am

    Great explanation of how to make better use of anchor text in various situations. I knew a bit about this, but I still learned a lot from your post and will put it to use as part of the Ultimate Blog Challenge. Also I clicked thru on one of your links (How to add a hyperlink) just out of curiosity since I already know how to do it, but I was so impressed with your clearly written and highly visual procedures!
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  4. William Amis says:
    October 2, 2012 at 2:39 am

    Sarah, great presentation on how to utilize Ankor Text within our articles. This is a great way to get people use to adding that to their sales pages, pitch pages or white pages.

    We have our global group using this method in our templates of communication. We have endless people who would like to be apart of what we are doing. So, there is a template in response to where the request originated from. Also, who issued it and what they are expecting from us.

    It works well to direct them to furnish Contact information and then be directed to the Phase Procedures which gets them started with creating their foundation first. Then create their “Clean Blog”.

    Sarah, you write with such easy choices for us readers to take action. I do believe making an extra visit today here at you site. Has payed off for me and all my global members. You make it easy to have people communicate and then get things done at the same time. This is good business and not all the hype of sales.

    Your one of our great coaches in this industry. I appreciate this information and look forward to learning more about the person Sarah.
    William Amis recently posted..Finding A TriggerMy Profile
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  5. Anne Perez says:
    October 2, 2012 at 12:12 pm

    Hi Sarah
    Great post on anchor text and bio boxes and the importance of getting them right. I’m a firm believer that ‘natural’ tactics online is better than a lot of ‘black hat’ tactics that may work in the short term but long term will damage the success and the reputation of those who use them.
    Anne Perez recently posted..Track and Measure Your Results with Google AnalyticsMy Profile
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  6. Steve Borgman says:
    October 3, 2012 at 3:03 am

    I’m guilty as charged for using one keyword for almost every forum signature I was part of for a long time. I’m wondering if that’s why one of my sites took a hit. I guess I know now what to do going forward. By the way, is there a recommended balance of how many internal versus external links should be in a blog post, for example?
    Steve Borgman recently posted..14 Ways to Make A DifferenceMy Profile
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  7. Yorinda says:
    October 6, 2012 at 5:22 am

    Hi Sarah,

    wow, you are providing useful information about two areas of blogging.

    It is good to read your explanation about anchor text and how we can vary it.

    I like the author box box you are using.
    How long did it take to to get verified with Google on that one?
    If I would change mine would I have to verify it again with the new one?

    Thank you so much for sharing this!

    To your Success!
    Yorinda
    Yorinda recently posted..Vision Board How you can Display and view it even on an I phoneMy Profile
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  8. Raena Lynn says:
    October 7, 2012 at 4:22 am

    Hi Sarah,

    This is an excellent article explaining anchor text. I like the term “natural looking anchor text” and the examples you presented showing how to create alternative text is very helpful. You summarized your article perfectly with this powerful statement, “To be found over the long term you need to write for your ideal reader, use anchor text, meta descriptions and your bio box to full effect.” Thanks Sarah!

    Raena Lynn
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