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Same-Page Anchor LinksDecember 14, 2011
By Jill Whalen
Hi Jill,  We just added anchors to a one-page website (the client is on an extremely tight budget). I know that incoming links are important in search engine rankings, but do the search engines consider anchors the same way as an incoming link? The anchors were added because the website is a long page, not for rankings, but I wonder if there will be an extra benefit by using them.Dave ++Jill's Response++ Hi Dave, Anchor links -- that is, those links on a page that simply go to a different place within the same page -- are generally ignored by search engines as far as providing them any anchor text weighting. But they are still words on the page, and as long as they're helpful to users, they're fine to use. You should also note that internal links in general (links within your site to other pages of your site) are probably not given the same kind of weighting as external links (other sites linking to yours). Best, Jill Jill Whalen is the CEO of High Rankings,  an SEO Services company in the Boston, MA area since 1995. Follow her on Twitter @JillWhalenIf you learned from this article, be sure to sign up for the High Rankings Advisor SEO Newsletter so you can be the first to receive similar articles in the future! Post Comment  Jill Whalen said: @Peg, that's different than what Dave was asking about. He was talking about those kinds of anchor links that just go to another spot on the same page. What you're talking about can be helpful to tell search engines what the page someone would click to is about (via the anchor text). It's not given as much weight as it used to (in my opinion), but it's still helpful. Lee Jackson said: You can also use anchors (the hash tag) to combat the First Link Priority rule! (http://www.webpresence.tv/uk-blog/hashtag-avoid-link-priority-rule/) Sandy said: Jill, you are right. When we use anchor text as an internal link, it determines that this is reference that you n go for more info on relevant topic, so I assume that Google will consider this is less important than the same page linked from outside using same anchor text. James Price said: HI can you tell me whether there is value in only have one or a small number of links away from your home page to other on site pages? I have read that this doesnt dilute teh home page authority - is this correct? James Jill Whalen said: James, the value in that is that you pass more PageRank to the few pages that you do link to. It has nothing to do with home page authority dilution (which is not even a thing!). Add Your Comments |
 
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I use anchor links from our home pages to our secondary pages, not only for a user to be able to link quickly to the information, but I have heard that by making the text a link it gives it more weight than plain text. Any truth to this?