Which Type of Link Anchor Text is the Most Effective? [An Experiment] |
| Which Type of Link Anchor Text is the Most Effective? [An Experiment] Posted: 11 Oct 2011 05:14 AM PDT Posted by jamesagate This post was originally in YOUmoz, and was promoted to the main blog because it provides great value and interest to our community. The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of SEOmoz, Inc. Cyrus Shepard's Beyond Exact Match Anchor Text Whiteboard Friday back at the start of September inspired me to run an experiment. Cyrus pointed out that there has been some evidence to suggest that the exact match anchor text link may not be the holy-grail it once was. I wanted to test the theory out for myself though and try to delve a little deeper into the effectiveness of different kinds of links and also attempt to identify which link type is the most effective. I also wanted to get an idea of just how advanced Google is at recognising the context around a link, i.e. is it even necessary to include a keyword in the anchor text or can it process non-keyword, 'click here' type links if they are placed near to the keyword itself. Before we get started, I want to say that my test was pretty small (three new domains, three mini-sites, 10 links to each) this means that by no standard are my findings conclusive but I think it definitely offers some food for thought and certainly some areas worth investigating further. Phase #1 – Keyword selection I was in the market, so to speak, for a keyword with relatively little competition. My logic being that this would make the test as clean as possible since the only competition would be the other sites within this experiment. This would mean that we would be largely in control of other variables like on-page optimisation, domain age etc. offering us more of an indication of the impact that the different links were having. A "Laboratory SERP" rather than a SERP that's been plucked from the wild. I settled eventually on the 'Orange Mega Sweets' because it was really low competition and I needed a keyphrase with at least three words to make the experiment possible. Phase #2 – Domain purchase The next step was to acquire three domains. I wanted three brand new domains so that no other factors were coming into play. I considered acquiring the exact match domain to see how it would rank compared with the above three but in the end decided against this as it wasn't really my intention with this experiment. Above you will see a screenshot taken on September 13th 2011 detailing the hand registration of PurpleSweets.com, YellowSweets.com and BlueSweets.com. I decided on these three to ensure they were all equally relevant, similar lengths and of a uniform style – again to try and make this test as clean as possible. I also paid for a new hosting plan to ensure absolutely no associations were made between these sites and my other websites. In hindsight, I should have gone further because I should have bought a hosting plan for each to ensure no association was made between the three test websites. Phase #3 – Website Build Very simple one-page microsites built on the latest version of WordPress with a standard WooTheme installed. I made a couple of tweaks like footer attribution link removal, changed the homepage to display fixed content, linked out to a relevant Wikipedia entry to add some clout, made the title text based and added a keyword based tagline. I made the same on-page changes to all of the websites. Body copy on each of these websites was again different (albeit similarly rubbish) and I also found a different image for each of the sites but kept the same title and alt tags for fairness.
Phase #4 – Linkbuilding This part of the experiment was the most challenging. Deciding which types of links to acquire was certainly a difficult call to make. In the end I went with a batch of 10 links for each of these three sites. I settled on some link sources which I happen to know index really fast (read – slightly too hot for client projects). Since this was an experiment, it didn't matter if the domains got burned.
(Link URLs masked to protect the sources - I know you can probably find them if you really want to!) As you can see, with BlueSweets.com I built arguably organic looking links using non-keyword anchor text such as 'here' 'click here' and so on. My theory with this kind of link was that I wanted to test just how clever Google was at recognising the context of a link as these 'click here' etc. links were all placed within close proximity to the target keyword phrase 'orange mega sweets'. With PurpleSweets.com, I went exact match anchor text crazy and finally with YellowSweets.com I kept things looking a little chaotic with a mixture of partial anchor text links. To be as scientific as possible, I created links that were from very similar sources for each of the sites and I built 1 link at a time to each website – all links were completed and live within a 24 hour time period. Phase #5 – The Results Here are the rankings for each of the websites on day two of the experiment (14th September):
As expected, none of the sites ranked inside the top 50. What about on 15th September though?
Interestingly, by day three of the experiment and only day two of these sites being live BlueSweets.com shot straight to number one for the target keyword. If you remember this was the site with the 'click here' type anchor text links. It was a surprising start given that my feeling was non-keyword anchor text links probably lacked the relevance that Google was looking for but maybe I was about to prove myself wrong and perhaps Google has got smart at recognising the context around a link..? Nevertheless, my feeling that after just one day it was too soon to make any kind of judgement. September 16th and BlueSweets.com had maintained its position - see screenshot below for Google.com accessed via a proxy.
By September 17th BlueSweets.com was still sitting at position #1 and the other two sites were still nowhere to be seen.
Later that day I ran the Rank Tracker again (yes I checked rankings twice in one day…) and things had really been shuffled: Out of nowhere YellowSweets.com takes the lead and BlueSweets.com disappears off of the radar. YellowSweets.com is the website with a link profile consisting of partial match anchor text links.
The eagle eyed amongst you will note that the ranking URL was http://yellowsweets.com/p rather than the main URL – odd considering I mistakenly installed WordPress there for less than 5 minutes before I realised what I'd done, removed it and re-added to the root folder. If anyone has a theory on how Google managed this or why it happened...I would love to know! I let things run their course for a couple of days and by 21st September, we see the following:
YellowSweets.com holds #1 and has an indented listing at #2. PurpleSweets.com (that has 10 exact match anchor text links) suddenly makes an appearance, dropping to #3 from #2 that it achieved just a day earlier (20th September). Fast forward a week and the picture remains almost the same...
By 28th September, YellowSweets.com had lost its indented listing but the site remained at #1 with PurpleSweets.com sitting at #3. BlueSweets.com is nowhere to be seen. Summary
Small Disclaimer During this two week experiment, there was one occasion where SEOmoz's rank tracker data didn't match up to the rankings seen when a search was performed manually via a proxy. Make of this what you will but my feeling is that this doesn't detract from the overall validity of the experiment because I was trying to identify patterns in a site's movement relative to each other rather than specific rankings on a given day. What I learned from this experiment Google isn't quite there yet Google perhaps isn't quite there yet with their assessment of link context – the results of this experiment seem to suggest that Google still needs a hint and places a high degree of trust in the relevance of the anchor text (whether partial match or exact match). The links built for each of these sites were from generalised sources and arguably from websites that weren't all that relevant. The pages these links were placed on however, made some of the right relevance & signals in terms of relevant largely handwritten content, a decent page title and no nasty paid links to bad neighbourhoods. For this particular SERP at least, Google still appears to place a huge amount of importance on the anchor text of a link rather than the context or perceived relevance. Partial match is the better long term strategy Although YellowSweets.com was the slowest off the mark in this experiment, it made a steady rise to the top and retained its position. This indicates that partial match linkbuilding in practice is the safest in terms of long term stability and potentially also the more effective now and in the future (proving what Cyrus was saying in his ‘Beyond exact match’ WBF). Think beyond the link In the end it comes back to Cyrus’ closing statement – "Judge like a human". In practice, a link profile consisting entirely of exact match links doesn't look natural and is easy for Google in the future to de-value a huge proportion of your link profile in one fell swoop. Assess link opportunities also as promotional, brand awareness and traffic opportunities and look at ways to build a presence online that will survive a future that is likely to be less about links. Questions
I would like to end by saying that all links were built for test purposes only. If you do find the link sources (well done you) please keep them to yourself, I have started to remove the process of removing the links since the experiment has drawn to a close. By James Agate, Founder and Director of SEO at Skyrocket SEO – a leading eCommerce SEO and Conversion Optimisation consultancy. |
| 12 Creative Design Elements Inspiring the Next Generation of UX Posted: 10 Oct 2011 06:15 PM PDT Posted by randfish It's been a long time since I've written about design here at Moz, but I spent my morning in a great meeting with Derric, and was inspired by a lot of his ideas and what we reviewed to revisit some of the emerging trends and outlier creatives that are opening our eyes to what's possible. Below, you'll find some truly exceptional, unique elements of creative layout and artistry, as well as simple tweaks to best practices that are pushing the field forward. Hopefully, a few will inspire your design directions, too! #1 - Products Floating on the BackgroundHere's a good-looking page from Hugh & Crye Shirts, showcasing one of their garments:
Not bad, right? But watch what happens when the product is lifted out of the photo context and floated onto the background (courtesy of designer Chris Svetlik):
Pretty remarkable, right? Something about the texture makes me want to reach out and grab it. The design minimizes the distance between the product and the interaction on the screen and in this instance, the drop-shadow adds to the ethereal, physical quality of the connection between browser and shirt. Here's another example of the same principle at work from Makr Carry Goods, creators of some beautiful bags:
The bag doesn't quite scream "grab me" like the shirt above (at least to me), possibly due to the lack of shadow, but the effect is still clearly a differentiator. It's evident again below in a great design from Tinkering Monkey:
I hope more product photography goes this direction, allowing for a more immersive experience when viewing physical goods on the web. #2 - Typography IS the DesignMinimalist sites have been leveraging the power of typography for years, but it's finally maturing thanks to massive upgrades in web-rendering of fonts and some genius layouts by experienced designers. Below is an example from Girlfriend NYC, whose whitespace is as elegant and suggestive as any I've seen:
Another great example comes via Infinvision, who adds artistry to font design and tells a terrific story through their copywriting and copyillustrating:
I'm excited to see more of this make its way out of designers' portfolios and into product, software and content websites. I suspect there's some phenomenal opportunity for creatives to make this work with the right client. Maybe even something for mobile? #3 - The Infographic as the Primary Communication ToolFor the past decade, infographics have been "add-ons" to websites, often living in blogs or article sections apart from the primary story of the product/brand. No more. In the past few years, there have been some remarkable moves to make the infographic itself the center of the site, and the results are pretty cool. Below is a screenshot from MahiFX, a trading platform that gives its pitch by comparing salaries entered by users to that of a legendary investor and user of their platform. Have a peek:
Perhaps just as engaging, though less parseable (at least for us English speakers) is this remarkable industry page from the French VinSociete:
If an infographic can tell the story with data better than paragraphs of text and bullet point lists, why not? Here's Maersk's website, a massive shipping company, showing off the visual comparisons of their freighters against major international landmarks:
I love the creativity and visualization of this approach and hope it catches on. I can imagine so many boring "about" pages and "industry explanations" turning into link-worthy, share-worthy content using this approach. #4 - The Vertical StorytellerThis trend may not have started with Ben the Bodyguard, but the site has come to represent a movement all its own. After launching, it received thousands of tweets and hundreds of links and that's just for the design! The product wouldn't come out for another 3 months.
Obviously, Ben's onto something. To experience for yourself, visit this page and start scrolling down (don't click the video, just scroll). Another example comes by way of Reverend Danger, whose digital agency site features some clever scroll-triggered animations and a whimsical style:
It can't be long before more sites adopt this methodology, particular considering the success of the "Ben" design in building excitement for the product. #5 - Show the App and the Rest Will FollowRemember this scene from the Muppets Take Manhattan? Of course you do! But just in case you've forgotten (even though you saw it, like, a million times as a kid) and don't feel like watching the video, it's the one where Kermit, after being stricken with temporary memory loss, informs a group of brand marketing frogs that perhaps the best way to inform the public about a new soap is simply by "saying what the product does."
Above is Chart.io, taking Kermit's advice to heart in their design. Five words explain what the product does (it's "Google Analytics for Business Data") while the screenshot shows off an interface that looks like it will deliver precisely on that promise. Here's a slightly different take on the same problem from If This Then That:
The app itself doesn't quite showcase as elegantly as Chart.io, so IFTT took the liberty of spelling it out using a visual typographic interface. It almost reminds me of the simplicity Google first displayed when they launched (remember the old days when everyone thought their minimalist blue results were the key to their success?). #6 - The Interactive FlourishIt used to be that interactivity meant complex and overwhelming, but designers like Ian James Cox and Bianca Mangels are overhauling that with simple, brilliant elements like the ones showcased below:
The interactive brain diagram is merely a creative delivery vehicle for information that's clearly listed on the left-hand side of the page. But the attention to detail and the extra effort make it stand out from the crowd. I must have browsed through two hundred design portfolios in the last week, yet this one caught my eye and kept my focus. #7 - Flawless Fluidity on any ResolutionIt's still tough to find, but there are a handful of sites that "degrade" so eloquently, they're just as exceptional on a phone, a laptop and a giant desktop monitor. One example comes via Joshua Sortino, who professes perfection and actually delivers. Here's his site at 1600px wide:
And again at 400px wide:
Here's another exemplary performer: The Manual, which uses the clever tactic of keeping the content to the left and letting the photography take the rest of the space.
Given the massive growth in web speed and use on devices of all shapes and sizes, I expect this practice to get more and more common. Hopefully, others can find ways to do it as beautifully as these two. #8 - The Brand as a Cartoon CharacterHere at SEOmoz, we have our beloved Roger Mozbot:
And the trend to update friendly, cartoon pals to help personify brands is certainly growing. Here's an example from Fork, the open source CMS:
Another favorite comes via Wallt, who represents a wall artist in the Netherlands:
I like brand mascots and I like cartoons. Until the past few years, it was hard to find great examples on the web, but today, there's dozens, if not hundreds of solid representations. A lenghty thread on Quora covers many of the best-known ones among startups, and I'd be shocked to see this trend go anywhere but up. #9 - Inspired by Print + Paper DesignThis trend's been around a long time, but the execution's improving and I'm finally seeing designs that don't just employ paper-goods style UIs to be "retro." An example of a highly useful and usable interface on this front comes via Oak Street Bootmakers, who combine great product photos and good-looking clothing with a classic print-inspired UX:
There's even a "colophon" in the footer :-) #10 - The Irreverent MessageI like when brands can authentically express their message in a way that challenges convention and surprises the viewer. Restaurant site Dilly Deli in Tulsa, OK starts things off on the wrong foot:
But somehow, despite "them bein' fightin' words," it works. Tripfab applies the same irreverent spirit with a clever graphic to make their point:
Obviously, this tactic isn't for everyone but it certainly can help a site (and the brand behind it) stand out from the crowd. #11 - Focus on the Input BoxEarning a click is impressive. Earning a form fillout, email address or website capture? That's where the bread gets buttered. Check out Stella Monitoring, whose throwback design does a nice job of focusing on the true call-to-action, the input box for website speed testing.
From there, it's just an email away from a brilliantly executed conversion. OpenGovernment does a pretty top-notch job of this as well, quickly funneling visitors to either the email signup or to the right district. The CTA is clear and the design puts all the focus in the right places:
Wonder how their input rates compare to OpenSiteExplorer... :-) #12 - Light & ShadowThe Brazilian design firm Vivas shows off some pretty exceptional photography and lighting transitions on their site:
But perhaps nothing else on the web compares to the use of light and shadow in Limbo:
Technically, the best stuff is inside the game itself, still the website does a nice job of suggesting the deeper experience with its dark hues and oversaturated pinpoints. Warning: don't play the game at night. It's scary as hell. But do appreciate the amazing lighting - it's as inspirational an art form as any I've seen. If you have other sites or design concepts to contribute, I'd love to see them! Feel free to insert relevant links in the comments. |
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