Improving Page Rank With Links

So is Google Ignoring Links With Keywords? I think it could be. It's certainly a way for it to get out a monster it (and other search engines) have created.

A while back there was keyword bombing where people teamed up and used inappropriate anchor texts on links to popular websites for a bit of fun. Google acted against these links individually. But if they realise there is abuse of the system, why not ban it all together?

It's an obvious move. People outside of Google work out how to falsely optimise sites, so Google changes the algorithm. It has happened before – alt text used to be a guaranteed way to the top, as did the title text.

It is known that many directory sites have suffered a drop in page rank – namely those selling one way links. One way links are known to really improve page rank and Google could have stopped this industry by reducing the page rank of the directory sites abusing their page rank. Including keywords in the anchor text was another way of optimising pages / sites and is often used in directories. If you are paying to improve your page rank then you want the best – so you get your keyword / phrases in the anchor text.

So why should Google not be able to work out that stuffing anchor texts full of keywords is (a) typical of directories and (b) a sign of cheating? Reduce the power of links using keyword phrases for anchor texts and drop the page rank of sites that do that a lot and you penalise the directories from 2 sides at once.

You also penalise innocent sites. Those that maybe are legitimately using these keyword phrases – possibly accidentally.

Maybe the percentage of such links should be taken into account. Maybe one day it will. But if you are link building to improve your page rank, don't put all of your eggs in one basket. Have at least some of the links using your site name or description – not just your favourite keywords.