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Link-building is often an uncertain practice: You don't know for sure that you'll get any backlinks; and, if you do, you can't guarantee they'll be on the sites you want, with do-follow status, and the anchor text you prefer.

Luckily, there is one piece of the puzzle you can stop worrying about: anchor text.

Say Goodbye to Old Ways of Using Anchor Text

At one time, anchor text was one of the primary factors in determining how valuable a backlink was. Marketers wanted to gain links with anchor text that was an exact match for the target keyword of the page that was linked to.

For example, a software review company might create a page on its site listing the best CRM systems. The target keyword for the page would be "best CRM in the world." The company would then try to gain links on other sites that point back to its page, and it would try to get backlinks to use the anchor text "best CRM in the world."

That is a tedious, uncomfortable, and uncertain practice—and, thankfully, it's a thing of the past.

Why You Shouldn't Control Anchor Text

There are multiple reasons why you can—and should—stop trying to control anchor text when link-building.

Exact anchor text is increasingly less important to search engines

From a technical perspective, exact anchor text is becoming less and less important to search algorithms. Search engines are becoming more sophisticated and no longer rely on exact match keywords to make connections between topics.

Google algorithms now semantically identify themes rather than particular keywords; that is, they use what words mean as much as what words are. They can easily tell that "list of the best CRMs worldwide" is closely related to "best CRM in the world," even if it's not an exact match.

Though exact match anchor text can help, it matters less than it used to—and it will continue to become even less relevant in the future as Google gets better at using semantics.

Organic, varied link profiles can boost SEO

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Why You Shouldn't Try to Control Anchor Text When Link-Building

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Daniel Tynski

Daniel Tynski is a co-founder and SVP of Fractl, a boutique content marketing and growth agency based in Delray Beach, FL.

LinkedIn: Daniel Tynski

Twitter: @DanielTynski