Is the "First Anchor Text" rule still true?

[Critical_Mass]

I'm working on optimizing our internal links' anchor text to be more SEO-friendly. For instance, instead of linking to an image gallery using anchor text "Gallery," adding in specific keywords like "Blue Widget Gallery."

However, I read about the "First Anchor Text" rule mentioned in the Moz article about anchor text (http://moz.com/learn/seo/anchor-text) and I'm curious to know if this is actually true or has been verified. Many of our site's pages link to the same internal URL twice on the same page; does that mean that it's not worth optimizing the anchor text of the second links?

Thanks very much!

[PaddyDisplays]

As far as I'm aware is still the case

[kwoolf]

Nice question. Stumped me and I had to go find the answer because I typically add two or three links with different anchor text on my home page to one or two important pages on the site, i.e. the action pages like contact us or order forms.

Anyway, I found this video and think it probably not worth the time to go through a vast number of pages to change anchor text. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYWlEItizjI

This may not answer your question but make your question seem like a relatively less urgent matter.

[Cyrus-Shepard]

I tested this about a year ago and it still held true, and I haven't seen any evidence or test in the wild to indicate any change in the way Google handles these.

That said, there may be other link signals surrounding additional links on the page. For example, if the first link is in the sidebar navigation, and the second link is strategically placed at the top of the text body, are there no signals passed (beyond anchor text) through that strategically placed second link? I don't know the exact answer to that.

What I would advise is this. Think like a "reasonable surfer" and link intelligently for user experience.

[Critical_Mass]

Thanks everyone, your responses are much appreciated! This helps clarify things.