The heated debate among SEO experts over the importance of link relevance over anchor text has shown no signs of abating. As SEO has evolved, many SEO Consultants have veered towards the view that link relevance may be just as crucial as anchor texts.

Yes, this may seems almost heresy for many SEO experts who have till now religiously and exclusively used keyword based anchor text for their SEO campaigns. But a calm analysis will reveal that link relevance may be the new trend and for many good reasons. Now, let us delve in to fact on why we might have been worshipping false gods!

SEO companies have been using exact match anchor text in the links in their campaigns. While this may seem almost commonsense, it is not. General public do not think and behave as link builders would like them. Common people may not use keywords or industry specific keywords known to only industry insiders. Search terms used by people may consist of brand names along with some unexpected words and keyword. On the other hand link builders use exact match anchor texts.

If Google analyses link profile of a website and sees too many of anchor texts with exact match keywords then it may be possible that it will deem them spam. Now, this is not what a SEO consultant needs! Though, it is not prohibited anchor texts have been abused so much that even now crappy sites with enough links with exact match keywords trump good quality sites. Search engines which constantly upgrade their algorithm to provide users with best quality search results are increasingly frowning upon such tactics.

Search Engine particularly Google has been at forefront of this war against spam and have now resorted to taking help of social media for judging the relevance of links.

As a part of SEO industry, we also have a stake in better search results for general public. Instead of going all out for anchor texts we should also concentrate at least a part of our efforts towards building links from relevant sites. While submitting your sites to web directory make sure that they are placed in correct categories. Industry specific blogs are a great source of traffic. Guest posts on those blogs are not only highly relevant but also establish your authority and bring steady stream of visitor back to your website.

Social Media Optimization is gaining prominence as can be seen from rapid popularly of Twitter and Facebook. Using relevant keywords within your tweets and Facebook updates will be used by Google to estimate its popularity.

A judicious mix of anchor text and relevant link can greatly assist you in toping search results. Build your site as an authority resource and build your brand, success will follow.

Author: Donna Nocero