Anchor text penalty

[barley]

I was actively link-building for a mid-level keyword to my homepage and was rising slowly through Google's ranking to the top of the 2nd page. I was on the brink of going to the 1st page when my site just disappeared for this keyword. I did some digging around and later found that I had barely varied my anchor text for 90% of my links to that page.

The rankings I checked were on Google UK. However, I am still on the 2nd page for all other Google cctlds, including google.com. Since the keyword includes 'holiday', it is not a term that US people use and therefore does not bring me any traffic from google.com.

All this happened at the beginning of August and to this day, I have not recovered my rankings at all. A few days after it happened, I managed to find my site for that keyword around page 20 and now it's stuck at page 18.

I bought the new domain name and launched the site in Nov last year and have been updating it gradually and also building links gradually. I am still doing both although I am now using the URL as anchor text for the homepage.

My organic traffic is steadily rising all the time. This is why I assume my lost of ranking just for 1 keyword is due to the anchor text. Any idea how to recover? And how long it will take? As I said, I am now using the URL as anchor text but I haven't seen any improvement. I have only been doing white-hat stuff, initially links from directories, then article directories until Panda hit, then plenty from guest posts, a few from link exchanges and some blog commenting for variety and a natural link profile.

Anyone been through the same situation as me?

On a different note, I seem to notice that links have less effect on Google nowadays. I keep throwing links at specific pages on my sites and the ranking (way off page 1) does not budge.

[MaverickUK]

Vary the anchor text a bit more using words like "click here", "this site", "visit" and so forth.

[barley]

Any experience to share anyone?

[dp40oz]

You may have got hit by the last panda update which went off around Aug 5-10th I believe.

[pons_saravanan]

I usually use the anchor text on all possible areas such as web2.0 blog posts, forum signature. And also while commenting on blogs I use person names instead of keywords. It keeps my link portifolio diversified and safe so far.

[markowe]

There is still a lot of debate about this issue - some big names in SEO claim you should use the EXACT same anchor text as much as possible, others (I would say a majority) say you need to diversify them. I am still a little on the fence about this one (but then I am not a big name in SEO ).

One thing I have read is to try Googling for your keywords but in quotes, like:

"bank holiday Monday trips" (or whatever)

and also: allinanchor:"bank holiday Monday trips"

...and seeing if your site ranks "higher" that way. That COULD (some say) be an indication you have overoptimised for that keyword in your backlinks, since Google ranks you lower in the "real" results than would be expected given your rankings for the exact match/allinanchor search, i.e. your anchor links are no longer getting you the results you want and you need to look at other factors like on-page etc.

[barley]

Originally Posted by dp40oz

You may have got hit by the last panda update which went off around Aug 5-10th I believe.

Can't be panda. My traffic from organic search is ever increasing. It's just the ranking for 1 keyword which has been obliterated to page 20. And since it was on page 2-3, it got very little traffic.

That keyword is also performing well on all other Google cctlds I checked, except for Google UK.

[InitialEffort]

Take a look at this:

Google Anchor Text Filters

[yukon]

I say stick to your guns on the same anchor-text as much as possible per page on your site.

I keyword target individual pages & build internal/external links as needed (again per page/keyword).

Example, my Index page keyword will not be the same as internal page XYZ, they will be related keywords.

[Oranges]

Yukon suggested it perfectly.
You can also build links with anchor texts like "click here" "My Website" "Please Visit" "Website URL" etc etc to make your backlinks look more natural, as far as anchor text penalty is concerned.

[barley]

Originally Posted by yukon

I say stick to your guns on the same anchor-text as much as possible per page on your site.

I keyword target individual pages & build internal/external links as needed (again per page/keyword).

Example, my Index page keyword will not be the same as internal page XYZ, they will be related keywords.

If what I am experiencing is really anchor text penalty, then the worst thing to do is to keep using the same achor text.
I am already using the site URL as anchor text now since it has been penalised; however, so far, nothing has changed, although I haven't built that many links.

[capone2009]

I had a similar filter applied to one of my sites. I also used the one anchor text near all the time and it was a one word keyword so I was on page 2 and climbing and now I'm page 13 or so only with a subpage.

What I do is vary the anchor text, add more unique content and also build more links to the inner pages. I have not seen a change since mid August so I don't really know if it is helping. My keyword density on this site was also very high at around 8%. I just focus on other projects now, I hope it will come back in a few month. I will see.

[Webworksinternet]

I have had the same problem with a number of my projects, seem to get punished for using the same anchor text, I am currently testing a few sites with different text every 10 links or so..

[barley]

Originally Posted by capone2009

I had a similar filter applied to one of my sites. I also used the one anchor text near all the time and it was a one word keyword so I was on page 2 and climbing and now I'm page 13 or so only with a subpage.

What I do is vary the anchor text, add more unique content and also build more links to the inner pages. I have not seen a change since mid August so I don't really know if it is helping. My keyword density on this site was also very high at around 8%. I just focus on other projects now, I hope it will come back in a few month. I will see.

Originally Posted by Webworksinternet

I have had the same problem with a number of my projects, seem to get punished for using the same anchor text, I am currently testing a few sites with different text every 10 links or so..

It's helpful to hear about others' experience in thsi situation. Maybe those of you who overcame this problem can add your story here.
I think linking to inner pages is a good idea as well, anything to make the backlink profile look more natural.
But definitely, if you keep using the same anchor text all the time, you are asking for trouble.

[petermartin12]

I usually use the anchor text on all possible areas such as web2.0 blog posts, forum signature. And also while commenting on blogs I use person names instead of keywords. It keeps my link portifolio diversified and safe so far.

[tj_inreality]

You know, until a few days ago I had about 30 top 10 Google positions. A dozen were at the #1 position.

I had NEVER varied anchor text in the past. Then a week ago, I started varying anchor text and suddenly I fell 50 spots for EVERY PAGE on my site.

So if you've never varied anchor text in the past and done well, you might not want to change things up suddenly, as it seems to trigger a negative response from Google. Just be aware that this is a possibility if you suddenly switch from one method of anchor text linking to another.

From my limited testing so far, it seems varying anchor text does not matter if you only have limited backlinks, say 50. I have a new site ranking in the top 5 with no variation so far. But I have a feeling that if your site gets big and starts collecting hundreds of backlinks, you need to start varying anchors to make it look "natural."

[InitialEffort]

@tj - Looks like you were affected by the algo update last weekend. Maybe look into "Panda Punch"

[tj_inreality]

@ Initial: Thanks man, you're a genius! I was beginning to piece things together but when you mentioned 'panda punch' and I started researching it, everything came together. I am now 90% sure that's what it is.

1. I had a few pages that targeted similar keywords (already deleted them earlier today as I suspected this was a problem)
2. My anchors did not have enough variation
3. While I wrote the content myself, it was largely derivative. I need to get more creative.

My plan:

1. Erase all pages with somewhat similar content or targeting similar keywords (already done) and erase any pages with thin or largely useless content
2. Since most backlinks were created by SeNuke, log into old accounts and change up the anchors. Most of these pages are indexed so I think this is the easiest way to instantly gain anchor diversity.
3. Add more content to each page. I already have some ideas for this.

I wasn't being too egregious in my Panda transgressions and I think that's why I only dropped 40-50 spots instead of 500. Hopefully by addressing these issues I'll get my rankings back in a month.

Let me know if you think of anything else, Initial. You've helped me a ton already, though.

[rosesmark]

A dead simple way to avoid these penalties is not to give up internal linking entirely but instead to focus on using semantic keywords and other related key phrases as anchor text in the pages.

[barley]

Originally Posted by rosesmark

A dead simple way to avoid these penalties is not to give up internal linking entirely but instead to focus on using semantic keywords and other related key phrases as anchor text in the pages.

Strangely enough, i got penalised the day after or very soon after I added a bunch of internal links with optimised anchor text pointing to my homepage.

I always thought internal links were like a weak version of backlinks so I find it difficult to believe that these internal links triggered an anchor text penalty.

[4morereferrals]

Originally Posted by barley

I was actively link-building for a mid-level keyword to my homepage and was rising slowly through Google's ranking to the top of the 2nd page. I was on the brink of going to the 1st page when my site just disappeared for this keyword. I did some digging around and later found that I had barely varied my anchor text for 90% of my links to that page.

The rankings I checked were on Google UK. However, I am still on the 2nd page for all other Google cctlds, including google.com. Since the keyword includes 'holiday', it is not a term that US people use and therefore does not bring me any traffic from google.com.

All this happened at the beginning of August and to this day, I have not recovered my rankings at all. A few days after it happened, I managed to find my site for that keyword around page 20 and now it's stuck at page 18.

I bought the new domain name and launched the site in Nov last year and have been updating it gradually and also building links gradually. I am still doing both although I am now using the URL as anchor text for the homepage.

My organic traffic is steadily rising all the time. This is why I assume my lost of ranking just for 1 keyword is due to the anchor text. Any idea how to recover? And how long it will take? As I said, I am now using the URL as anchor text but I haven't seen any improvement. I have only been doing white-hat stuff, initially links from directories, then article directories until Panda hit, then plenty from guest posts, a few from link exchanges and some blog commenting for variety and a natural link profile.

Anyone been through the same situation as me?

On a different note, I seem to notice that links have less effect on Google nowadays. I keep throwing links at specific pages on my sites and the ranking (way off page 1) does not budge.

Theory has it that penalties dont flow through a 301 redirect. You may want to investigate the strategies of 301 redirecting the old site sent to the 18th page ... to point at the new domain.

Its not JUST a matter of setting up a redirect - so be sure you've read up on hte subject matter and set things up to your comfort level before doing so - if this site is uber important to you.

... but at page 20 - what have you got to lose?

Also ... 2-3 months in purgatory for a -150 penalty isnt all that long. Is hte site totally de indexed? Guess not if its found on page 18. Its not dead - just life support.

Sometimes it helps to just let things sit tight too :-)

Adsense or affiliate site or your products? If adsense - dont get too committed to any one page brother - keep on movin on.

good luck!

[CreekChub]

It's already been hit on in this thread, and I'm no SEO expert (although I'm working on it) but it seems to me that we're all trying to outsmart google - when we should be trying to make our efforts look as natural as possible.

It's kind of like "take action". That phrase gets used on here to the point of overuse, and as such, people tend to ignore it. "Be natural" is the same sort of thing. It's so simple that we tend to overlook it when searching for the holy grail. If we all kept that in the back of our mind every time we started to think about this stuff, we would be much better off.

In the "natural world", would every (or most) link to our sites include the same exact anchor text? I'm thinking not. Just my 2 cents...

[LifeIsGood]

Use a variety of long-tailed keywords and other anchor text similar to your preferred keywords. Mix it up a lot.

Your suspicion about the internal links may also have something to do with the sudden drop. Perhaps you can strategically undo some of them.

Also, diversify the types of links you're obtaining.
You should be back to better than you were before in no time.

LifeIsGood ~ It's About To Get Even Better!