Link Anchor Text Density

[Marcoose]

Hi,

A question:

If I am trying to rank for the keyword in my URL, what percentage of the links should contain the anchor text? On a side note, is there an optimum percentage that should be URL/non main keyword links?

Has anyone done any in depth analysis on this?

Thanks in advance!

[animesh]

I never thought about this.. Generally it should be 5-6%...

[Marcoose]

5-6% seems a little low to me. Does anyone else have an opinion or better yet, have conducted analysis on the subject?

[cooler1]

I read a Backlink ebook recently and it says this about creating the anchor text;

One thing to keep in mind as well is that you should never use keywords that are already a part of your website title or domain name but instead focus on including keywords that you hope to rank for but are not already optimized or included on your own site.

Is this correct? I thought the purpose of having a keyword in your domain is so you can rank for that specific keyword. I don't quite understand why you shouldn't built anchor text to the keyword in the domain or how will you be able to rank for that keyword.

[sashas]

I personally go the 60/40 route - 60% main keyword, 40% secondary keywords. But I'll also throw in links that have my site's address as the anchor text ('www.xyz.com'), and common terms like 'click here', 'my blog', 'my site', etc.

But don't obsess over it too much. Unless you have thousands of links with the same anchor text, it wouldn't cause too many problems.

[dburk]

Hi Marcoose,

I don't believe the percentage makes any difference. The whole notion of "Link Anchor Text Density" smacks of Cargo Cult reasoning.

YouTube - The Gods Must Be Crazy

[calfred]

Don't stress about the analysis.

Because even if you somehow figure out from your countless SEO tests (which takes a ton of time and effort), Google might change it all over again, leaving you in the dark.

If you want natural looking anchor texts

http://www.websitename.com
click here
anchor text
secondary anchor texts (found in Google Wonder Wheel because they're related to main anchor text)
and just find keyword variations in Google Keyword Tool and brainstorm a little (check the keyword count for brainstormed variation keywords) and you're gold

Otherwise, just go 100% same anchor text.

I've heard countless backlink gurus preaching the latter as well.

But, it all comes down to your own experience, which you trust best.