Updating Your Anchor Text Strategy Post-Penguin

Ever since the release of the Penguin update, anchor text has seen a bit of a demotion in relevance. Anchor text, the actual text people see when they see a link, was (and still is) used as part of Google’s strategy for identifying what pages on the web were about.

Anchor text was heavily abused by spammers who flooded the web with automated links as an indication of relevance and authority, and the search engine responded by identifying excessively optimized anchor text as spam.

Today’s search marketers shouldn’t be chasing after such heavily optimized links. Instead, they should be using varied keywords to link to their site. This is more natural and doesn’t send the wrong signals. This is actually fairly logical even as a marketer. You should want your pages to rank for a wide variety of keywords, not just one single phrase.

Now it’s time for some advice about how to approach anchor text and keywords as a modern SEO.

1. Doing keyword research

Keyword research still starts off roughly the same way it used to. You will want to use tools such as:

• Google AdWords Keyword Tool 
• Ubersuggest

to identify which keywords are worth using. However, the way that you use the tools will be somewhat different.

2. Prepare a list of targeted, relevant keywords

Use your keyword tool to find words that are related the the topic of your page. In the past, SEOs were typically advised to look for keywords with:

• A decent amount of traffic

• Relatively low competition in the search results

• Relatively high profitability

This is still decent advice when you are choosing a keyword to fit into your page’s title tag, That said, the reality is that Google is getting very good at interpreting queries, and you aren’t likely to rank well for something just because of a small semantic difference.

More importantly, when it comes to anchor text for your links, this advice should be thrown out the window.

Instead, you should use the keyword tool to identify a mixture of keywords that are worth using in your links. Use short, medium, and long phrases. Pay very little attention to the traffic and profitability of the keywords, if at all. Instead, focus on choosing keywords that make sense for your page.

3. Prepare anchor text possibilities

The last thing you should do is export the keywords straight out of the keyword tool and use them as is. This may have worked in the past, and it will still work in some cases today, but you should be focusing more on conversions (“clicks”) than on the keywords, so get creative. Make the link fit the context, not the other way around. For example:

• If you are incorporating a city or location into the keyword, mix it up. Don’t use the city at the beginning or end of every link.

• Use connecting words and, above all else, make the link fit the sentence. If you sacrifice grammar in favor of an exact keyword you are way off track.

• Include your brand in the anchor text, or replace the keyword with your brand altogether, or use the title of the post as the anchor text. Always ask yourself, “would it make sense to do this if I weren’t an SEO?”

• Use partial match anchor text. This means use some of the words from your keyword phrases, but not all of them.

• Use very long phrases. For example, try linking an entire sentence, or half a sentence, instead of just the keyword itself.

• Use “naked” URLs from time to time, rather than using any anchor text at all.

4. Avoid excessive use of exact match

I’m sure you’ve picked up on this central point by now. Yes, you’ll still want to use the exact phrase that is most promising for you here or there, but this is far from top priority. Too many exact match keywords will just end up throwing your site out of the search results altogether.
Focus on the quality of the sites and pages that link to you, the amount of referral traffic, and other traditional marketing metrics.

Don’t waste your time thinking about how to fit an exact match anchor text into your copy.

Furthermore, try to avoid even getting links from sites with an excessive amount of exact match anchor text already on them. These sites are also likely to see penalties and demotions down the road, which will ruin the quality of your link even if it isn’t over-optimized itself.

5. Change your anchor text with every link you create

Really, this should be a much higher priority goal. Granted, you shouldn’t go so far out of your way on this that you painstakingly check every single link to assure it doesn’t have the same anchor text. A better approach would be to simply:

• Think about where in the copy it will make the most sense to mention your page

• Think of the best call to action to fit into the copy (as long as it doesn’t go overboard and irritate the reader or the site owner)

• Think of where it would make the most sense to place a link in that call to action

• Try to incorporate some of your keywords into that call to action where they make sense

If the reader has a pretty good idea of what the link is going to take them to before they click it, you are probably sending the right messages to the search engines as well.

Optimization should come second. If you adopt this frame of mind, you will discover that it’s very easy to mix up your keyword anchor text and still make it clear to the search engines what the page is about.

Marketers First, SEOs Second

Search engine optimization is a form of marketing. Approach SEO as a tool to market websites and you will start to see that “optimization” is just one part of the job.

Staying ahead of the search engine updates is all about staying in this frame of mind and putting sales, reputation, and branding first.

Do you have any advice to share about the future of anchor text? Don’t forget to share this if you liked it.

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Why Google Disavowing Links? Be Cautious While Using This Tool

Back on 16th October, Google introduced a new tool to disavow links. This was and continues to be good news for all those webmasters whose sites have unnatural links pointing to them, but which they cannot control; meaning all they can do is identify them, but not take them down. This tool gives them an option to do just that, all they need to do is put down all the URLs on a plain text file and upload it. Google does the rest. We have also talked about all you need to know about disavow links tool in our previous blog post.

Sounds simple right! Not Quite! Things are never as cut and dried as they seem. For starters, more than two months since this tool made its appearance on the scene, there is still some confusion going around whether it should or shouldn’t be used.

There are plenty of clients who come to us to help them disavow their links. Our recommendation is to not go this route, unless absolutely sure, and look for some alternative instead.  This might come as a surprise to some, but the fact is that Google doesn’t want everybody suffering from a ‘bad link’ problem to choose ‘links disavow’.

Here’s why we think that disavowing links is not a good idea all the time; we have also mentioned a few alternatives to using the disavow links tool.

A Case Made for Not Disavowing Links

Recall what Google said on its blog, while announcing the release of the Disavow Links Tool,

In Google’s words,

 “If you’ve been notified of a manual spam action based on “unnatural links” pointing to your site, this tool can help you address the issue. If you haven’t gotten this notification, this tool generally isn’t something you need to worry about.”

One word begs a closer look and that is ‘Notification’. So, if you haven’t been notified, then you don’t really have to use this tool.

Here’s what a notification looks like:

Here’s something else that Google says in the same blog,

 “If you’ve done as much as you can to remove the problematic links, and there are still some links you just can’t seem to get down, that’s a good time to visit our new Disavow links page.”

The question is, have you really done enough to remove all those unnatural links gunning for your site? You must contact webmasters manually and ask them to remove the problematic links that are pointing to your site from theirs. Using the disavow links tools should be your final throw of the dice and not your first.

Another line from Google, “We would reiterate that we built this tool for advanced webmasters only. We don’t recommend using this tool unless you are sure that you need to disavow some links to your site and you know exactly what you’re doing.”

There should be zero ambiguity as to which links you want to remove. If you have doubts about the links that you need to disavow, then this tool isn’t for you. It’s for webmasters that are very sure that they have done more than enough to get rid of unnatural links and in spite of their best efforts, they still can’t get rid of all the harmful links.

Google is very clear about when you should and shouldn’t use this tool.

Be Cautious While Using This Tool:

Webmasters need to be very cautious while using this tool as sources says that this tool could be Google’s Best Spam Reporting Tool yet.

Having said that, here are two possibilities that you can encounter while disavowing links:

• In case of unnatural/unwanted links pointing to your website unknowingly (that is you being completely unaware of it), Google might reconsider your website

• In case of manually created links being submitted for disavow, Google might not reconsider, as you are reporting SPAM that you created.

This is why it is such a good tool, it picks and chooses. It doesn’t tar all requests with the same brush.

The Alternates to Google Disavow Links Tool

So all things said and done, you will need to find alternates to using the Disavow Links Tool.

• Analyze your link profile thoroughly and check whether your website has linked to unrelated websites unknowingly. If this is the case, then you need to get in touch with those webmasters immediately and get them to remove these links manually.

• Use the tried and tested methods to get in touch with them, through mail, calling them up, or through Twitter and Facebook.

• Use link removal tools and services such as RMOOV and REMOVEEM

• Don’t be stingy when it comes to getting your links removed, at times you might even have to pay the webmaster for their removal, but it’s all in a good cause. So, if it’s feasible, do it. (However, Google isn’t in favor of this.)

What If You Have Built Large Chunk of Un-Natural Links Manually Those Are Unable to Control

While you are identifying the links for removal, there is a ‘straight out of hell’ scenario that you might encounter and that is you will be left with a huge chunk of unnatural links that you were unable to remove.

What do you do then? No, the correct answer is not using the Disavow Links Tool. Why? That’s because you will be indirectly reporting a large chunk of SPAM to Google, and there is nobody else responsible for this SPAM but YOU. Google will identify you as somebody who manipulated rankings to improve your SERPs rankings. In such cases, Google will never reconsider your website, not in a million years.

Well, there is just one alternate that will work. Get yourself a new website and start afresh. Don’t make the mistakes you made in the past and focus on creating quality backlinks.

Sometimes, it’s the simplest answers that work best. Google has been telling this to us, all along.

To Conclude:

Google disavow links tool is not for everyone, so before using it think multiple times whether you’re eligible (yes, eligible) to use this tool. It has more negative sides than positive as Google holds the full control. Using this tool you can either win the battle or lose everything, therefore, if you are unsure about your link profile and use of this tool then it is better to take help from experts as well as focus on the ways mentioned in the above explanation.

Let us know if you face any difficulty or if you encounter any questions
.

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Top Creative Ways for Startups to Get Natural Citations

A startup with a great product idea and a talented team is only missing one ingredient for success: exposure. Marketing is tough for a business that doesn’t have the audience to make a profit, which is why so many startups find themselves in a Catch-22 with no easy solution in sight. 

Often, the answer lies in creativity. Yes, creativity is hard. The good news? The ROI is often much higher.

Here are a few ideas to attract natural citations and links that will get your business listed in the search results.

1. Contacting universities and hiring talented graduates

I’d be surprised if I found out there was a university somewhere that didn’t have a website that gave many of its grad students their own websites. I’d also be surprised if there were an SEO anywhere who didn’t appreciate links from .edu domains. There is some doubt in the industry about whether .edu domains really pass more authority, but there’s no doubt that as trends come and go, universities will always be considered an authority in the broadest sense of the word.

Certainly, you wouldn’t want to hire a graduate simply because they would be able to give you a citation in return. That said, it’s worth factoring this into your decision making process. Graduates with a strong track record and a lot of impressive work on their own “pet” website should be considered hot commodities.

2. Get featured in local startup directories

“Directory” has become a dirty word in the SEO community, but there is a tremendous difference between legitimate directories and “link” directories. A legitimate startup directory is used by actual people (other than SEOs) who are looking for information about startups in their area. Get listed in these, as well as directories like the BBB, your local Chamber of Commerce, and so on. The higher the standards, the better.

3. Share your startup idea by attending local startup meetups

Getting involved in real-world events is one of the best ways to get online exposure. We live in a world that is tightly integrated with the net, after all. Meetup.com is a great way to get in touch with people who are succeeding at the startup game, make some connections, build a network, and get natural links and citations as a result. Cross promotion is very powerful when it’s done legitimately.

You might even consider hosting a meetup yourself. There’s something about standing on a stage and talking that has tremendous psychological impact and is great for building respect and authority.

4. Help NGOs in your niche

Many businesses see tons of request letters from NGOs for sponsorships and so on. Most throw them out, completely forgetting that this can be a great opportunity to build exposure and do something good at the same time. As a startup, you may not see such requests as often, but the opportunities are there and it’s well worth reaching out to these organizations.

5. Find the best blogs in your niche and let them know about your new startup

Merely sending out a press release or embarking on a mass mailing campaign isn’t going to get you the kind of exposure that transforms into search engine visibility or conversions. One of the best ways to get “out there” is through targeted communications with bloggers who already have exposure. Build relationships with these types of influencers by reaching out directly to them with context and a friendly attitude.

6. Register your spot in local seminars and events and getting featured on their websites

Events are possibly the best way for the modern business to build exposure. It is virtually the central focus of most social media communications. People who attend a live event are more likely to remember the experience and feel the impact of it than if they read something online. Getting listed on an events website will result in links right off the bat, and the exposure and chances for citations only improve from there.

7. Give testimonials, get listed as a client, and build partnerships

Any time you use a tool or work with a supplier or business client, you should also be asking yourself if there’s an opportunity to build links and citations. Anybody you work with, by definition, already has a working relationship with you. Most businesses have a website, or an online presence of some kind. The same is true for many freelancers you may work with. Don’t hesitate to use these partnerships as opportunities for links, citations, and exposure.

Your Turn

Hopefully these seven ideas will help you get the creative juices flowing. Creativity is key when time and resources are low. What are some other creative ways to put yourself out there? Be sure to pass this guide along if you liked what you saw.

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What Is Google’s new Disavow Links Tool ??

Finally the sun of 17th October, 2012 has risen with great news for the wonderful SEO industry as well as for the webmasters who lost their website’s visibility in Google search results due to the recent Google algorithm changes named as penguin and un-natural links.

On 16th October, 2012, Google has officially announced a new tool to disavow Links that will allow the webmasters to remove bad/problematic/low-quality/paid links pointing to their websites.

Announcement of a new Disavow Links Tool:

This tool was announced by the head of Google’s web spam team Matt Cutts, when speaking during a keynote at the Pubcon, conference in Las Vegas yesterday. The tool is live and can be found here. Sources say that this tool has been beta tested by some selected SEOs already for the past few weeks.

How does a new Disavow links tool work?

• You can access the new Disavow tool here –http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/disavow-links-main

• You need to get logged into your GWT account

• Select the website for which you want to disavow links. Here is a screenshot:

• Prepare a simple plain text file and put a list of domain names or specific page URLs from where you want to request to disavow links

• You need to make sure to put one URL per line; be it a domain name or a page URL

• If you want to disavow links from all pages of a particular website then you will need to use following syntax:

    domain:example.com

• If you want to request to disavow links on specific pages then you will need to use following syntax:

         http://www.example.com/page1.html
         http://www.example.com/page2.html
         http://www.example.com/page3.html
and so on…

• Make sure that all the included links in the text file are the ones you actually want to disavow. You can definitely add/eliminate the links anytime from the text file.

• At last, you need to upload text file and submit it to Google. Here is a screenshot:

Google’s WebSpam team head – Matt Cutts’s thoughts on the new Disavow Links Tool:

How to make use of a new Disavow links tool to recover your website from Google’s Penguin and Un-natural links penalty?

If your website has been penalized by Google due to Google’s Penguin OR un-natural links penalty then you need to prepare a list of suspicious links pointing to your website and request Google to Disavow those links using this tool.

Once your request is placed, Google will take several weeks to re-crawl and re-index the URLs you disavowed before your disavowals go into effect.

After several weeks, you need to file a reconsideration request so the manual webspam team can check whether your site is now within Google’s quality guidelines, and if so, they will remove any manual actions taken on your website.

To Conclude:

Did you find the above explanation helpful/useful? – If so, we will appreciate sharing this post within your community as well as your thoughts through the comment section below.

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