Off-Page Search Engine Optimisation News

We’ve discussed the basic premise of Search Engine Optimisation, (including factors pertinent to ‘on-page’ optimising) in an earlier feature. However, what really matters concerns off-page SEO. It’s rather like a voting scheme. One website volunteers a link or vote to another website. They’re suggesting the site is worth looking at.

The link has a couple of key features. Firstly it contains the specific URL of the page. And second, the ‘anchor text’ or ‘keyword phrase’ that is highlighted on the web-page for you to click. This equates to a vote being generated for that exact page. i.e. one vote towards this site appearing higher up in the natural listings when we type that phrase in the search box.

It always works in this way. There’s an irrevocable connection between the page pointed to and the anchor text. Or the process can’t happen. The Search Engines use the anchor text as an explanation of what the page is all about. It’s ESSENTIAL to understand this – Your site will only come up in searches it has anchor texts for.

Can you see therefore why a ‘Click Here’ link serves no SEO purpose? The phrase ‘CLICK Here’ is what we’ve voted for! Who would choose to search for Click Here? No-one of course.

And that’s exactly why you must consider your anchor text carefully. It signifies the keyword phrases that you want to rank for. (While we’re on the subject – a search for CLICK HERE will always show Adobe Reader download in position one). Do Adobe think ‘CLICK HERE’ is an important term? No way! It’s just that millions of websites have a link using those words to download Adobe Reader.

In short, anchor text phrases are always used by the SE’s to place a vote. It’s quite sensible really. The process attempts to use human logic for looking and searching. In fact, the actual subject matter of your page could be quite different. You’ll rank for the terms in the anchor text phrases that point to you. That is how it is.

Naturally, there’s more to it than that… The title and wording of the page being pointed at are also rated by the SE’s. In addition to several other in-depth criteria. As an example – they’ll look at the sites that link to yours and assess how relevant they are and how well spread.

The crux of it all is though that a mass of back links solves all the problems! And these need to be from as many different sites as possible – with the correct phrases used as anchor text. A site’s quality is taken into account as well: Receiving a link from a top site like Microsoft is much more valuable than one from a start-up site.

Picking the keyword phrases that you want to rate for is an art in itself. (And you should perform a lot of keyword and competitor research before putting any strategy into place.) The key really though is – What does an enquirer search for when they’re looking for your products and services? Because that’s it! The answers give you your exact keyword phrases.

However, you can’t just use your ‘best guesses! Quite often, the phrases you’d expect to see don’t rate very highly. We all have different ways of expressing ourselves. You may think to Google “quality mattresses” if you’re hoping to sleep better. A different person though may choose to write the words ‘I need to sleep better’.

It’s simply not worth relying on supposition. It can’t be over-estimated how important it is to investigate, measure and test all the phrases to be used. How much visibility your site gets is absolutely dependent on this. Compare it to an entry in a physical printed Business Directory. You won’t receive any calls if you’re listed under an inappropriate heading. Search Engine Optimisation can only be effective with painstaking and detailed keyword research.

(C) Jason Kendall SEM. Try EvolveSEM.co.uk for superb information on SEM Experts.

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