5 replies to this topic

[kestrel]

Hi,

I understand that if a page links out multiple times using the same anchor text each time then the the value of the 2nd anchor text/link will be lower than that of the first, the 3rd occurance will be lower than the 2nd etc.

Does this apply to plurals? i.e. would 'mortgage' and 'mortgages' be classed as duplicate anchor text in this scenario?

Thanks in advance,

K

Edited by kestrel, 02 August 2007 - 06:07 AM.

[EGOL]

I don't think that anyone knows for sure the answer to any of these... not even the 1st, 2nd, 3rd links idea.

Edited by EGOL, 02 August 2007 - 07:18 AM.

[Ruud]

My gut instinct tells me that 3 links on one and the same page to one and the same web document do not count for more than 1 link on that page.

That is, if a PR9 document references your site trice I think it would be utter stupidity on the side of Google to count that as 3 PR9 links, no?

Given that surrounding text is taken into account, I can imagine that, heavily depending on the linking document's content, the overall value of one well placed link is more effective, less dilutive, than 3 links.

Now if you say, but Ruud, I meant linking out to 3 other sites -- than the distribution of your page's PR is spread over 3 links instead of 1. A link from a PR9 page with 10 links is different from a link from a PR9 page with 100 links.

Furthermore, how links, and other elements, are valued and weighed, can be influenced by position in document. <h1> before the body of an article carries more weight than using <h1> in your footer.

Does this apply to plurals? i.e. would 'mortgage' and 'mortgages' be classed as duplicate anchor text in this scenario?

Through stemming I believe that both these examples can already mean the other...

I don't think there is such thing as duplicate anchor text. Sure, search engines can analyze and watch out for documents that seem to be linked to always with the same anchor text. By analyzing the linked document they can make an educated guess on whether or not someone is trying to game the system.

But true "duplicate anchor text", as in the meaning of a link, can only be achieved through identical surrounding text.

This <a href="http://www.example.com">fruit</a> cake recipe ...

He is a <a href="http://www.example.com">fruit</a> cake ...

This <a href="http://www.example.com">fruit</a> basket ...

The above have "duplicate anchor text" but by adding the surrounding text these links would automatically bubble up higher for the right context query.

I think that what you might have heard is how it is good to vary your anchor text and how repetitive anchor text for your links can be, but isn't always, damaging.

The variation comes not from one and the same link nor from one and the same document. It is one document linking with "fruit cake recipe", one with "cake recipe", another with "recipe", another with "cake". Think of it as tagging. The more accurately you tag a link on delicious, the more likely you are to find it back in the right context next time.

[JohnMu]

I agree with EGOL, but speculation is fun.

Value per anchor text is almost impossible to evaluate outside of Google's black box. We can test for yes/no, but comparing different anchor texts with each other is ... hard.

My guess is that each link has it's own value, with three links on the same page, my guess is that each gets 1/3 of the value for the anchor text, but I would venture to guess that each link gets the same page-context.

What would be really interesting however would be to determine the value of anchors within a page, eg http://example.com/page#sell vs http://example.com/page#buy . I wonder if they will be used in the future, imagine if your search result took you right to the relevant part of the page?

John

[Ruud]

imagine if your search result took you right to the relevant part of the page?

Neat idea Google toolbar inserting anchors dynamically, taking you to the part of the page they matched to your query.

At times I find myself doing a search, going to a result, then hitting / (opens quicksearch in Firefox) and doing a search for a term on the page

[SEO Honolulu]

What I would like to suggest if you are needing or really wanting to drop 3 different links to the same page, I would change keywords 2 & 3 to try and rank for local search terms.

kw1 - mortgage
kw2 - [state you're in] mortgages
kw3 - [city you're in] mortgage brokers

I did a mortgage site a while back and it was one of the hardest sites I have ever done. A great deal of my time was really optimizing on-page elements to make up for the SE's lack of enthusiasm about another mortgage site.