Help Please! - Anchor Text in the Menu

[LockCity]

Hi everyone,

I am a SEOMOZ newbie and I have been learning about SEO for a while now whilst working on my site - lockcity.co.uk - I already understood the importance of anchor text but was amazed to learn how google only count the anchor text used in the first link (http://www.seomoz.org/learn-seo/anchor-text).

My questions are - does this rule still apply? and if so do the menus really count as the first link?

If I went on this approach, this would make my menus too long for e.g. on my 'Auto Locksmith' page, my targetted keywords are 'Auto Locksmith' but also the town keywords need to be included.

I really thought I had this covered on the home page by making sure the anchor text and alt text were keyword relevant to the link, but looks like Ive been missing out on an opportunity.

Our business is slightly complicated in that the 25 mile radius we cover includes 4 different regions - therefore I feel like I always have to get these keywords in as well to make sure we get traffic from our area.

Thanks for any advice you can give!

[Richard555]

Hi Abi Don't worry about the left hand side or global navigation items - Google will focus its attention to the copy and links within the main body of the page. You are correct - if the body copy has two links going to the same location then only the first will count. Links nearer the top of the copy will get more link juice than those further down the page, so put the important stuff nearer the top. The more links you have the more diluted (less effect) those links will have so don't try and cover everything - for example if you sold many different types of cars you could have a 'BMW cars' link, then on the BMW cars page have links to the different models. Make sure you have copy referring to your location / zip / postcode. Have a contact us page with your full address and map. Make sure you have listings / links on local websites.... All the tells Google your location. Finally check Google Webmaster is targeted on your country. Best of luck Nigel

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Abi,

We're glad to have you here! I want to be sure I'm understanding your question. Yes, that rule is still true about Google only counting the first link to a given document. I believe you are concerned that if your menu doesn't say Auto Locksmith Boston, you will somehow be losing out. While it's good to have optimized items in your menu, you don't want to look spammy. This would look spammy to me in a menu, and I bet it might to Google to:

Auto Locksmith Boston

Auto Locksmith Portsmouth

Auto Locksmith Truro

Auto Locksmith Plymouth

It's just too repetitive. So, what can you do? You can create a main page for your locksmith services in your city of location. The goal of this page will typically be to attain high LOCAL rankings. You can then create city landing pages for your service radius cities, but don't stamp them out cookie-cutter fashion. Find something unique to write about your involvement in those other cities, and don't just list them in the menu like I've shown above. Write something interesting, helpful and cool. The goal of these pages will typically be ORGANIC rankings, because you're unlikely to locally outrank competitors in neighboring cities who have their physical shops there.

So, you are a single entity offering this single service...Auto Locksmithing. That deserves one page. But you can write up your service cities, too, so long as what you're doing is unique and useful.

In sum, I recommend that you menu contains a link for Auto Locksmith Services, and then you have a separate area of the menu showcasing your work in different cities. I do not recommend making a menu like the one above.

Hope this helps!

[LockCity]

Thanks so much for your helpful reply - one question about the copy for my postcode - does this need to be linked to the contact page or is text enough?  Many thanks

[LockCity]

Hi Miriam, thanks for confirming this - really useful advice!

[Richard555]

My pleasure.

To answer your question - the post code does not need to be a link to the contact us page - just have a link called 'Contact us'

The contact us page should have tel, your full address and postcode and good idea to imbed a google map.

I have not tried it but there are some wordpress plugins that allow for multiple addresses in one map.

By the way on your home page your heading 'Looking for a expert locksmith? Welcome to Lock City.....' is currently a H2 - it should be a  H1.

It could be cut back and more focused eg Expert Locksmiths covering Bristol, Bath, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire' ... even that is a mouthful so consider do you really need to mention all locations?

I would also suggest adding in a paragraph of home page copy - maybe this could include reference to the locations (so you can get the H1 back) and end with the 'Contact us' you asked about.

Also give your images alt text which makes reference to location. The urls for the images could also include a location.

Hope this helps

Nigel

[LockCity]

Thanks again Nigel - its funny as I had this conversation with Wordpress support - they told me not to worry about defining a H1 as wordpress already took care of this in the page title, but you are right, its generated as an H2, bearing this in mind, what do you think of this approach:

Welcome To Lock City! (Wordpress generates h2 from page title)

Expert Locksmiths Covering Bristol | Bath | South Gloucs | North Somerset |

West Wiltshire. (manually add h1)

Our Expert Locksmiths Can Be With You Within 1hr! (manually add another h2)

I have updated my home page (not sub pages) with this approach for you to see this in action.

Regards, Abi

[Richard555]

Hi Abi

Getting there.... but you should only have one H1 on a page (you've now got 2).

You can have multiple H2's and H3's and so on.

The H1 on your home page is important - should contain your keywords, be readable and to the point.

I would suggest 'Expert Locksmiths in Bristol Bath, South Gloucs, North Somerset and West Wiltshire'.

ie dropping the vertical spacer ' | '

Personally I would drop the 'Welcome to Lockcity' (as you currently have 3 headings) but add in a paragraph of standard text that starts with a welcome, mention what you do, the 1 hour pitch and location (as you are rather light on overall page copy,)

All the best

Richard

PS Nigel is my middle name but it was confusing so amended to Richard - see my profile for more

[LockCity]

Thanks very much Richard, I think I understand what you mean - can I pls ask you to take a final look at the page please?

Wordpress uses the title page of the document as H1 on subsequent pages but on the home page uses it as an H2 - very strange!

To avoid this, I have left the page title blank on the homepage and then manually entered an H1 in the body.

Really appreciate your help! Am I there now?

Many thanks, Abi

[Richard555]

HI Abi

Well done, much better and visually looks good to.

One thing though.... you still have two H1's on the home page. It looks like the rogue H1is related to your logo. Look around line 139 in the source code.

If you are a pro member try running the SEO web crawler (goto Research Tools). Its a good way to pick up other things. Otherwise drop me a line.

Enjoy!

Richard

[LockCity]

Ahhhh I see - thanks so much.  So Wordpress handles the home page differently to the subsequent pages ...

On the homepage it uses the "title of the site" as the H1 - which I just called 'Lock City' in the setup.  Then it uses the page title as the H2 (which I thought was the H1)

On subsequent pages, it uses the page title as the H1 (great!)

So to get around the homepage problem, I have changed my site name to :

Expert Locksmiths Covering Bristol, Bath, South Gloucs, North Somerset, West Wiltshire

As this is hidden code, can I use the same text for my h2 of this page, or does it need to be unique?

Hope Im making sense! Thanks for your advice again!

[MiriamEllis]

My pleasure, Abi. Good luck with the work ahead!

[Richard555]

Hi Abi

Not 100% sure of your question however:

Should H1 and H2 on the same page differ? I would say yes. It would look odd to a reader so perhaps odd to Google to.

If I've not answered the question you were after you can find my number on my profile.

The thing to be wary about is building a website for search engines - focus on the user needs and that the page 'reads and looks right'

All the best

Richard

[LockCity]

Thanks, I will change slightly, although wordpress is not visually displaying the H1 on the homepage - its hidden text - very strange!

Thanks for all your help!