Hi All
I just wondered how long anchor text could be?
Can it be an article?
Can I say - The services we offer include “big widgets, green lamps, orange dynamite stick, multi colored taxi signs, illuminous shoe string etc etc” and much more
Or is a short anchor text better? I know a short anchor text is better for a specific keyword, but thinking outside the box would the SE’s take all the above anchor text into consideration or would you gain weight for part of the anchor text?
Is there a recomended number of characters for anchor text?
You’re best keeping the anchor text as concise as possible. And if you’re trying to geo-target your keyword, that is making your keyword and city of where you’re pinpointing the most popular search, it’s always good to make it short and sweet. For instance: Web Design Kansas City
Good luck with your link building!
Long anchor text like that is likely to trigger spam flags, as it looks horribly like keyword stuffing. That’s probably because it is keyword stuffing…
Think about the links you see on other sites. How often are they more than four or five words? Rarely, unless it’s an article title - you just don’t need that much text to convey the destination of the link. When you’re browsing, do you want to see a long list of keywords hyperlinked (which is likely to make the passage more difficult to read), or do you just want the salient point linked?
Search engines are good at picking up context, and if relevant keywords are mentioned in the main text near the anchor text, they will usually associate the two.
Shaun Anderson at Hobo wrote an article about this, it’s worth reading - SEO – Limit Anchor Text Links To 55 Characters In Length?