Almost every one of you reading this has seen the phrase “click here” on a web page. Most site designers use this phrase to indicate you should (ta da) click here to do something. Download a file, run a video, go to a new web page, the list is endless. However, the web is about keywords and using the most appropriate ones for the content on your site and the selected page.
So, what about our friend, the phrase “click here”? Well, type in “click here” in Google and see how many instances there are of this ubiquitous phrase. In fact click here to see how many instances of click here appear! On the day I wrote this post the number was 3.520 billion – yes with a B! That’s a lot. Your message will be so lost it might never be found.
The answer here is when creating a link for a visitor to click, make the anchor text your keywords for that page. Anchor text is the text you see in blue (the normal color for a hyperlink). The phrase “click here” is the anchor text in the previous paragraph. By selecting keyword rich anchor text you are telling a search engine this is an important phrase on your web page. When your keyword rich anchor text is on another site (a backlink) it tells the search engines you are providing content on this keyword at your site.
To help your overall SEO strategy you should first clean up all anchor text links on your site. Banish “click here”, “click now”, “join now” and so on immediately. Create compelling calls to action using your keywords. Something like “find a plumber in Bellevue today” or sign up for the “CluePad SEO recommendation service” today.
Next, ensure you prepare your backlink requests (links on other sites to your site) with your selected keyword phrases in the anchor text. It’s quite easy to prepare your backlink request with enhanced anchor text using an HTML editor such as Nvu (www.nvu.com). Once you start using keyword phrases in your backlinks you will gain better positions in search engine results.
Example:
>>> For the best and most reliable service call Bill’s Plumbing and get the best <a href=”www.bellevueplumber.com” target=”_blank”>Bellevue Plumber</a>
Don’t try and beat out 3.520 billion other “click here” sites; be the big fish in your small pond by using effective anchor text strings!
