Anchor Text Explained

Anchor what?Anchor what? Anchor text- this is the phrase that appears underlined in any link, and search engines consider anchor text highly important.

Here are few examples fo good and bad anchor text in use as a quick tutorial:

Poor use of anchor text:

Click here to download our white paper of Google AdWords. (Note the anchor text in this example is click here.)

Great use of anchor text:

Review our 9 page white paper comparing Google AdWords to Yahoo Sponsored Search now! (See the difference? Much more meat for search engines and actually more descriptive of what the link is actually about.)

Not only should great anchor text be used in websites, but in blog posts, e-newsletters and any online content including feature articles and even press releases. If you provide reciprocal link exchanges change your anchor text to not underline your business name, but rather your services using important keywords.

Using improved anchor text in all you do online is just one small yet simple way to boost your organic search placement.

Blog Writing Under Your Own Name

Your pen name is your brand. Just like any brand, it should be protected. I only write articles showing my own name for my website. When I supply ghost written articles, I do not brand them with my name.

Personally, I feel that by name should only be used to promote my own services and my own website. I do not lend out my name or for that matter my content to others. I want to retain close control of my brand and my intellectual property. Before you write for someone else under your own name you may want to consider these important points.

1. Will the content you supply be changed in any way after you provide it? If it will be you may not like the changes or the meaning of your original piece may be different.

2. Is the site where your content will reside a good match for your ideologies? How about types of advertisers? Remember your name will give credibility to the site. Are the products and services one with which you would want to be linked?

3. If you are writing under your own name, remember the Internet archives all content literally forever. Will joining your name to a site or cause be a problem in the future for potential clients or job opportunities.

4. You may even want to consider receiving a higher level of compensation for any pieces that you write for other websites using your own name.

Once you let something go, it is nearly impossible to get it back again, that goes not only with your reputation, but with the value of your own brand or pen name.

Getting the Most Bang for Your Buck – Special Issue

You’ll want to click in to read our November e-newsletter that tells you how to get the most bang for your buck on the Internet. Learn our top picks for pay per click, search engine optimization, and e-newsletter services.

With the economy tanking and business climates slowing, now’s the time to check out our tips to see if you can easily implement some of them to get your own business rolling again.

Here’s the link!

Scaring Up Fun on Halloween

Today is Halloween and it’s time to have some fun with scary costumes and treats. Kids of all ages love to go out tonight, visit with neighbors, see kids in costume, and paw through the kids candy loot looking for a favorite sweet snack.

I have triplet 11 year olds and if this year is like last year, each kid brought home a pillow case full of candy about the size and weight of a 20 pound turkey. This year they all vow that they will range farther in the neighborhood and stay out later in the search for massive quantities of sugar.

Usually my husband and I take turns minding the house and giving out treats and walking with the kids, but the kids have already told us that this year they are going with friends, in a pack, to be able to move faster, and get more candy. We appear to have been holding them back in their “Holy Grail” search for the home that provides the “biggest candy bar” or the most amount of candy as 8:00 PM rolls around. (For those of you that don’t live in my area 8:00 is when you start dumping the candy on any kids who come to the door so you will not have left overs that you will then have to eat yourself. We start out at 6:00 giving out two pieces to each child but by 8:00 PM it is fist fulls of candy.)

This year I have only bought the candy that my own kids like, not that I expect to have any left though. It is crazy that as much as we do give away, with three wide-ranging kid-candy fiends, the haul at the end of the night will be enough to make our dentist feel that they can now afford college for their youngest child.

I hope that you will have fun tonight either going with your kids, going to your own party, or just even staying home handing out candy. Happy Halloween!