Should I diversify internal anchor text

[SamCUK]

In the post penguin era should I diversify my internal anchor text? I have exact match links throughout my site that point to my important pages so should I look at varying the anchor text?

I also have exact match terms in my sites navigation such as 'london wedding bands', 'edinburgh wedding bands' etc... I read somewhere that I should remove the 'money term' so that they become 'london',  'edinburgh' etc...Is that they case?

[AlanBleiweiss]

You should have been diversifying your internal anchor text for the past three years.  Exact match is valid in navigation if it's reasonable and makes sense for users to effortlessly understand your content. But if your entire site is about wedding bands, if you have too many links that all have xxxxxx wedding bands, it can literally look overdone.  If it looks overdone, you should consider that to mean it probably is.

Think about it - if the whole site is for wedding bands, wouldn't users prefer to just see the names of towns in the navigation?  It's both more natural looking and less insulting to the eyes.

You can still have xxxx Wedding bands in the page Titles, H1 tags and content.  Just no need to force it in the navigation.

And in the content, diversify. Variations of your main phrases, as well as partials, as well as non-keyword anchors.

All of it helps users feel like you're not insulting them by forcing SEO on their reading and experience.  And in turn, that's why search engines will like your site more.

[SamCUK]

Thanks for your reply. All that makes sense - looks like I have a lot of work to do!

[EGOL]

Alan,

Thank you for answering Samuel's question.

I have been wondering about internal anchor text too.  I understand your example about wedding bands and agree.

What do you think about the practice of Wikipedia to hyperlink the first occurrence of EVERY topic name in an article to the Wikipedia article page for that topic?   I don't find that offensive as a reader of their site, in fact, I think that it is very helpful.

What do you think of that practice being applied to a retail or informative site?

Thanks

[AlanBleiweiss]

linking is a valid concept when used sparingly and when it leads to good information right? I mean, that's what the web is at its foundation.  Since wikipedia is an information portal, I think it makes sense for the site.

I definitely link once to any service page I mention on other pages on my own sites.  You never know what page someone will come into your site on, and in addition to main navigation, linking internally to another page is good for user experience, as you've described.

I do try to mix it up though - not always the first mention, but that's not as critical an issue.  It reinforces relationships as well.

[EGOL]

Thank you!

For internal anchors, I can't see how Google would consider wikipedia's practice to be manipulative.   It is simply providing easy connects for any visitor who wants them.