Top 28 Anchor Text Linking & Optimization Articles

Lately, anchor text linking has been a major issue of debate for webmasters and SEO professionals all around. Five to eight years ago, anchor text played a massive role in ranking a site for a specific ‘money keyword’. But things are different today. Aggressive use of exact match anchor text (more than 60%) in all of your inbound links can quickly lead to Google penalization. If you want to use anchor text (inbound and outbound) effectively and enhance your site’s SEO, you need to follow the new road. But, what’s the new road?

Well, I’ve tried to put together a list of 28 best articles on anchor text linking and optimization, along with the fundamentals . Use this list as a guide to using anchor text effectively, getting your SEO right and avoiding search rank penalties.

Let’s Begin with the Fundamentals
If you’re new to anchor text linking, you should definitely check out these articles. Find out why anchor text is so vital to your site’s SEO. Know how to make anchor text links and how they work.

#1. MajesticSEO – Use of Anchor Text
#2. BrickMarketing – What’s Anchor Text?
#3. BlogHerald –Anchor Text SEO
#4. LBW – How to Make Anchor Text Links
#5. SEOptimiser – How Does Anchor Text Work?
#6. SEOHacker – Importance of Anchor Text to a Backlink

What’s Exact Match Anchor Text?
If you’re obsessed over exact match anchor text, you should change your mindset right now. The rules are changing pretty quickly. Excessive use of ‘money keyword’ in your anchor text can get you in serious trouble.

#7. SEMGroup – The Case of 60% (or Above) Money Keyword Anchor Text
#8. VerticalMeasures – Partial Match vs Exact Match Anchor Text
#9. NorthCutt – The Death of Exact Match Anchor Text Links

Know the Best Practices & OptimizationTips
There’s little doubt that anchor text links are of high significance even today. It’s only that the rules have changed. To make the most of your link building efforts, you should be well informed of all the anchor text linking practices and strategies that work best in the post-Penguin market.

#10. WebProNews – Anchor Text Tips to Rocket Your Rankings
#11. SEOChat – How to Use Anchor Text in Backlinks
#12. WorkwithDavidWood – The Truth About Anchor Text & How to Use It
#13. MasterGoogle – How to Optimize Anchor Text for Search Engines
#14. SEOmoz – Testing the Value of Anchor Text Optimized Internal Links
#15. KaisertheSage – Anchor Text Linking Strategy
#16. HelloBloggerz – 5 New Rules of Anchor Text Linking
#17. ApexPacific – How Google Penguin Update Affects Anchor Text Strategy
#18. WPromote – How to Make the Most of Anchor Text Linking
#19. SEM Group – How to Diversify Anchor Text
#20. SEW – Impact of Anchor Text Diversity and Link Relevancy
#21. SEOGadget – Anchor Text Optimization Best Practices 2012
#22. BillHartzer – Anchor Text Flows Just Like PageRank

Go Through Research/ Case Studies
Find out some interesting facts and figures by going through these resources on the usage of anchor text. And use them to improve your link building tactics.

#23. SEJ – Anchor Text Optimization Case Study: What’s Natural?
#24. SEOmoz – Anchor Text Distribution
#25. SEW – How the Web Uses Anchor Text in Internal Linking
#26. SEW – How the Web Uses Anchor Text in Links
#27. WordStream – SEO Lab: Testing Anchor Text Links
#28. WMG – Anchor Text Analysis

What’s your anchor text linking strategy? Please feel free to talk about more tips and suggestions in the comment section below.