In the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) links are valuable. However, some links are less valuable than others. In fact some links are almost worthless from an SEO standpoint.
The specifics on how websites are ranked are closely guarded secrets. If this information were public knowledge, every site would be perfectly optimized and the search engines would be of no value. Although there is no certainty when it comes to search engine preferences, we can make certain assumptions based on history and experience.
The use of anchor text links is thought to carry some weight with the search engines. An anchor text link includes a few descriptive words which, if clicked, will take you a different website or page. The actual website address is hidden within the html code of the website.
But, some links carry more weight than others. The more common descriptive words used with anchor text links is the term "Click Here." Unless 'click here' is one of the keywords listed on your website, it is useless as far as the search engines go. I more valuable text link is "Your Site's Name" or Your Site Keyword." This type of link carries much more weight in the eyes of the search engines.
How do I know this? I have two sites that I almost always promote together. They were designed from the same template so neither one has an SEO advantage over the other. For one site I have always used the site name in the anchor text. In the other, I use different names in the anchor text.
The one that I use the site name in the anchor text has a page rank of 3. The other site, which is slightly older, has a page rank of 2. Although the difference is not earth shattering, in the world of SEO, I'll take every little advantage that I can get. By making small changes like this, you may end up with improved site rankings. And by using a number of these small SEO improvements, you might see significant improvement in your over all site rankings and in your Internet business.
