Any value in non-anchor text backlink?

[Neil K]

Hi I was wondering if there was any value in a backlink to my website with just the URL and no anchor text. The link is do-follow and will come from a high PR website source. (It is actually a local newspaper that wants to interview me)

[DireStraits]

Yes, absolutely.

Most people don't use relevant anchor-text when they link "naturally" to websites, anyway, do they? A properly anchored backlink is more desirable, of course (when you can get them), but never pass up the opportunity of a high-PR backlink - even if it's on a site/page that's totally irrelevant.

[Dan Anton]

It will definitely be of value. Obviously not as much as an anchor text link, however, a high pr link is still of great value and should never be turned down

[s888]

I'd definitely want a high pr backlink without anchor text, so you should go for it. I've read that it looks more natural to the search engines diversifying the anchor text of your backlinks. So having the url backlink would help.

[MikeFriedman]

It definitely has value. A link is a link.

It may not help as much as a link with anchor text for ranking a specific keyword, but it is still adding authority to your site.

[jhonsean]

It is recommended that an anchor text must be the keyword of your site. Its useless if it is an High PR website source an anchor text must have a link it is important.

[Neil K]

Alright that sounds great. So I'm going to go work on a lot of PR and media related stuff and get them to write and backlink about my venture. Hopefully this adds some natural and easy backlinking value to my site.

[JonWebContent]

Even if the link provides you no SEO value, remember that if it is on a page that generates a lot of traffic, you could get a bunch of traffic just by people clicking on that link. Everything doesn't have to be done for SEO purposes. There are other ways of getting business than the search engines.

[gekko2.0]

Absolutely take any link you can get

[nekyian]

I have to agree with gekko2.0, take whatever you can get. Having a diverse profile anchor wise is a good thing. Usually you want a certain anchor text, which matches the se query you want to appear on. But if you over-optimize with just one anchor text the backlinks will start to be of no value to you.
On the other hand, if your current position on the desired se query is low, you should definitely ask for the anchor text. If it's a natural link / citation, there are chances you will get it. Most of the times the person placing the link does not know what anchor text you want or worst, does not know to html code it correctly.
I know there are voices that say emailing people the html code to insert in their pages is lame, but sometimes is the best thing to do.

[dotgirish]

Non anchor text like your name etc is very important to make your link building looks natural. Any links coming in are counted. Even I feel that no-follow links are important too for SERP improvement.

[maile15]

It would be really interesting if you got a link with non anchor text and no follow..what do you guess how much that would be worth :-)

[krishacetravison]

As long as it's not nofollow, yes you can get a value from a link even without using anchor text.

[frank07]

You can get value from non-anchor back links, and this will be a part of links which help your backlinks look natural.

[googlepage1]

you will get the juice of link and the "traffic" as well but regarding KW optimization it would be only helpful if your domain name is an exact match keyword.

[GeorgR.]

I am very, very convinced that varying anchor text does play a role in search results.

You know that MOST "natural" links where another site is referenced are not "keyword links" but URL links. I am always mixing URL links in...and recently even more.

I *think* that Google will get the relevance of a link ALSO from the context where the link is and not only from the anchor text keyword. In other words: If you have an article about "Dog Training" and an URL link like www somesite.com Google is LIKELY to know that the link has to do with dog training. (What else should it reference to?

You cannot have a natural link structure where each and every link is a keyword...such doesnt exist in "real" life.

[Mike Anthony]

Not only is it valuable it is kind of link you should be using the most in your SEO. Of course you will have to adjust your link building strategy because most people are doing it all wrong especially with the kind of links they use.

Thats right I am saying it - anchor text right back to your money page is the wrong way to use backlinks given the kind of links people use the most on this forum

[GeorgR.]

I think Mike is spot-on, i didn't even realize myself that URL links might be MORE important than KW links..but makes total sense of course.

[awj888]

yes 100% - obviously if you can get an anchor text link from it would be better. but either way that wil be a boost. also its a good tactic for diversity in your link profile

[Mike Anthony]

I need to clarify my post before because I've received Pms about it and I don't want anyone confused.

Heres what I am referring to. There are four major problems in link building

1) - Post panda alot of people have seen that low quality links have resulted in them losing rankings with the updates. A lot of people here still use forum profiles, blog comments, article marketing etc which are in many cases low authority ( or in the case of blog comments higher authority but with too much outbound links).

2) We have all seen that contextual links (what Google calls "Editorial" links) are valued by Google more but those are not as easy to get on authority pages.

3), Whats the biggest problem with getting links that stick? well in the case of blog comments . tumblr, forums etc its getting links deleted for Spam.

4) there are many websites that will give you links on good pages where they will not allow anchor text at all. you just give them your URL.

SO we have some issues here Google likes in context links in the body of articles, webmasters don't like spam and identify it immediately by anchor text user names. great sites don;t want to give us anchor text links and besides that alot of the links that people get are spammy that google does not like to see pointing to money sites.

The answer is to at least sometimes FORGET ABOUT LINKING DIRECTLY TO YOUR MONEY SITE AND THUS FORGET ABOUT ANCHOR TEXT. Link to sites where you can convert whatever link juice you are getting to create contextual links that then have anchor text you control. Whether that be other domains you setup or some free blog services.

It opens up your linkbuilding world.

Now when you find a blog that is low OBL and it looks like any hint of advertising will get your comment removed regardless of how valuable the comment is FORGET THE ANCHOR TEXT. You can use your name or a fake name and point the link to your setup domains (which I'll call funnel sites/pages from her on in). In so doing I have been able to create links that build up the PR of the funnel site which I then can link to my money site with any anchor text I choose (and I can change it at will to boot because its under my control). Plus I can convert that juice into a CONTEXTUAL LINK on my blog.

Instead of passing by the many sites that will allow me to leave only a link but no anchor text I now can place them, build up more juice, create more funnel sites and give my money site PRECISELY the kind of links that Google likes to see coming into a page post panda.

Furthermore for those who insist on doing alot of forum profiles and junk that tank and cause sites to bounce up and down it would be far better to aim the links at the funnel sites AND then to your money site.

So ANCHOR TEXT IS VITAL when linking to your money site. I was not trying to impy it was not BUT your link building should not be only about linking directly to your money site because you are drastically reducing your options by not utilizing funnels sites.

What I see many do is get so fixated on getting their keywords in that they skip opportunities if they can't leave anchor text, place links that are bound to be removed that might not be if they didn't use anchor text and blindly point all kinds of junks straight at their money site with anchor text when for the price of a domain and some cheap hosting they could get some contextual links with some PR pointing at their site..

Doesn't have to be that way. Hope that clears the air.