Is Anchor Text Dead? Link Building after Google Algorithm Update
Tuan Do | Updated On
As announced earlier, Google started implementing a lot of major changes in its ranking algorithm this month and they could affect a large percentage of websites out there. If you haven’t read the list of changes, I recommend you to check it out on their blog post. In the big list of 50 changes, I see there are 2 very important updates that could totally change the use of anchor text for link building strategies.
Specifically, the 2 updates are Tweaks to handling of anchor text (Google turned off a classifier related to anchor text as they have been successful with other methods of anchor processing) and Better interpretation and use of anchor text (the systems to interpret and use anchor text have been improved, and Google will be able to determine the relevancy of an anchor text for a given query more accurately). As I’ve seen some misunderstanding already, we will look more carefully at the Google’s statements to see how we should use anchor text for link building.
Is Anchor Text Dead?
No, anchor text is not dying, it is just not as important as in a few years ago. Google said that they turned off one classifier related to anchor text, there are a lot more anchor text classifiers in their system and we can’t be sure which one they disabled. We also see that in the 2nd change, Google is improving its system to find out the relevancy of anchor text. Therefore, anchor text is still a part of Google’s algorithm in ranking search results, they just change the way they score anchor text processing.
According to my research, Google will stop using anchor text links outside the content section. I am just not sure that this is the classifier Google mentioned in its announcement. If my speculation is true, it means that your efforts in building links in comment section, sidebar and possibly author section below the post could become a big Zero now. Google would determine the relevancy based on the content of the post, especially the paragraph contains your anchor text link. This change is understandable because the links look more natural, and guest bloggers could stop sending insurance or Forex posts to a tech blog like TechWalls.
New Link Building Strategy
What should we do to adapt to the new changes in handling anchor text? That’s the concern of many bloggers and webmasters at the moment. Again, the best way is still building awesome content to get natural backlinks, however, it is not as easy as it sounds. Google is still taking anchor text seriously and here are a few of my solutions to develop more relevant links to your web pages. Remember not to overdo it or your site could get penalized for over search engine optimization. Check out the list and let me know if you have more effective link building strategy at the moment.
- Stop comment spamming.
- Don’t waste money to buy links on sidebar.
- Guest posting is still working. However, it is better to include your link within the content of blog post because anchor text link in the author section could get lower score.
- Some suggest to have at least 2 outbound links in a guest post, one points to your page and one points to an informative article. I am not really sure about this solution as it needs more experiments to prove.
- Just choose relevant websites to guest post, it is useless to guest post on a website with totally different niche.
- Don’t use the same or similar anchor texts for your backlinks.
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Great post Tuan ! Yes, paid link building is not really a good idea, Google may often penalize you for the same !
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Tuan Do
I’ve never spent money for buying links but Google still penalizes my site sometimes. Meanwhile, many others have been very successful with paid links, so I hope the Google updates will change the situation.
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I don’t think so ! Even if you will serve paid links on your blog, Google will throw you back from their search engine or will downgrade your PR
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I think having several links in a guest post is good practice, such as outbound and cross linking with other articles on the same blog. Interlinking is always a good idea.
Nice post, and nice redesign of your blog.
Cheers,
Missyp.s. Are you still accepting guest articles? If so, would like to submit one. Let me know.
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Tuan Do
Hi Missy,
Long time not seeing you here. Yes, my blog is still accepting guest posts, you can check out requirements on the Write for us page. Have you submitted a post for us before?-
Hi, Tuan:
Yes, I believe I have but it’s been a while since I submitted any. Will take a look at the Write for Us page again and submit accordingly.
Thanks for the speedy reply.
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Hey Tuan! Thanks for sharing the new google update but tell me one thing that last year also google update his algorithm……….Is google always updates his theories and tricks to make backlinks……..Its really confusing…please help me regarding this
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Tuan Do
Yes, Google changes its ranking algorithm with major updates every month or 3 months. We always need to follow their updates and do necessary changes to our websites.
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Tuan! You are saying very true……..
But how can we know that google panda is going to update the websites..
It has also make changes in its tricks and techniques for updation……..
This is really very much baffling. Can you please clear or suggest me any other article regarding this, if you have written.-
Tuan Do
Hi,
The update has already been launching as Google stated and some websites have seen its effects. You can check out some of my previous articles for more info.
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This change is a sign of Google showing that people should focus on creating relevant content rather than spamming. In the end, Content is STILL king
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Tuan Do
Yeah, content is still the most important factor but we also should follow the new link building strategies. We will have a lot of troubles if we are not doing it in the right way, I’ve heard some authority websites have been penalized and got de-indexed by Google after the change.
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Yeah, Labnol was a great example last year when Panda hit that site.
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I agree with you and as the time goes now Google is eliminating the factor of back-links and they are judging websites based on quality content.
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Tuan Do
Hi Mohsin, I think Google will not eliminate the backlinks features soon because natural linking is still a good way to determine value of webpages. Google just should find another way to process anchor text links.
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To avoid Google’s suspicion about my own post, it’s really necessary to give priority to making the topic-related anchor texts. The key word on my own list should go second in this case. Afterall, it’s most critical to have the link last loner; that’ll be better.
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So how can I use the anchor text for my backlinks? If my niche is all about web designing and my targeted keyword is “website design cincinnati”, then I will not use that targeted keyword as my backlink anymore? instead, I will use the name of the website itself?
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Tuan Do
Hi Aranza,
Then you shouldn’t target just that keyword anymore. Your site could be penalized if you use the same exact match keyword on your backlinks. I recommend you to target some more variations of your keywords, it will be safer then.
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Yes I agree. Anchor text won’t be dying anytime soon. People just have to find a more effective way of using anchor texts. We should make our anchor texts varied. Thanks for sharing!
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It appears that the use of keywords within the anchor body is no longer an effective method.
The use of other words such as branding signals, click here, visit site and other anchors seem to be of better use!!
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