Should You Be Using Certain Phrases in Your Anchor Text on Your Blog?

Confused about Google version of what web spam is?
Confused about Google version of what web spam is?

I had a blog client just recently send me a list of 5 phrases that he wanted used in his blog posts with all links regardless what they were to point to his home page. This blog post will educate you on why you may not want to use this “old” SEO tactic any more on your blog.Placing on Google has really changed in the last year. It used to be that keyword density and smart use of anchor text in blog posts really worked to boost your Google.com placement. However, now using these same tactics of building keyword density and repeating the same anchor text in blog posts over and over can be considered web spam by Google and can end up winning you not better organic placement but a Google smackdown!

I found this terrific article at the Internet Marketing Blog called “Google Web spam “Penguin” Over Optimization Penalty Hits” It is a good article and one that you should read for more information about what Google considers web spam.

Here are my specific recommendations to my clients on the topic of web spam.

  1. Don’t send your blog writer phrases to use any more. Let us know what is important, but it we use the same phrasing over and over again in your blog posts you will be nailed by Google.
  2. Let the blog writer mix up wording and phrasing so that content reads naturally.
  3. We won’t be working to build keyword density in a blog post as this may really come back to bite you.
  4. We still want great catchy titles in fact this is more important than ever for share-ability of your content.
  5. Allow the blog writer to point to the correct page on your website not just to your home page. Deep linking is good!

Remember the Google spider and algorithm is so smart… you don’t have to spoon feed content, phrasing, keywords, or links. Let content be natural to read, on topic – yes, but not redundant, create great content that is now shareable and authoritative.