Internal anchor text

[seoanalytics]

Hello,

I am wondering how to deal with internal anchor text.

I read here and there that it shouldn't be too optimised but I also read that this is how google understands what my page is aout.

I have breadcrumbs with my main keyword in the anchor text and can't change that it is automatic.

In other words if i have 10 breadcrumb going to my top page with the keyword can I be penalised ?

[mememax]

You have to be natural. That is the key. If the page you're linking is about "red leather boots" then the anchor should reflect that. What you have avoid is forcing things.

Example of a good breadcrumb
Home > Shoes > Red Leather Boots

Now an over optimized one
Home > Boots > Red > Red Leather Boots

You are repeating words that do not add any value, same things happens with URLs many people repeat their product in the folder then in the URI of the page.

My recommendation would be to keep it optimized but without forcing anything. If you are in doubt if Google will like it or not, think about your users. Will they like this link showing that text or will it be too redundant? there you got the answer

[seoanalytics]

Got it for the breadcrumbs and for the links in the contact can I also write "red leather boots" 10 times out of 10 links or is it better to have 8 that say "red leather boots" and the other 2 that says "check those leather boots" and "cool boots".

Thank you,

[mememax]

There are places where variation is not only allowed but also recommended, ex. external backlinks, internal links from other pages, etc. You may want to use call to actions or LSI keywords. You can use this tool to find interesting LSI terms: https://lsigraph.com/

about the breadcrumb I would keep it always the same. Breadcrumbs purpose is not for optimizing anchors but to give users a navigational support so if I were you I would always keep them descriptive but never over optimized.

[seoanalytics]

Interested this lsigraph, didn't know about it but a great tool to find internal linking ideas and avoid over optimisation.

Thank you,

[seoanalytics]

Does it mean that the breadcrumb

Home > France > Bordeaux bike tour

is better than

Home > Bike tours in France > Bordeaux bike tour

[mememax]

Sorry for the late answer but it really depends.

If your site is about bikes and host news about tour de France and the giro and so on then you may not need to add bike tour for Bordeaux because you're already talking about France bike tour. But you're a traveling company you may have a page about France and Bordeaux respectively, so it may be needed to include those keywords just because the breadcrumb has to be unique, otherwise it may be confusing.

So in most cases I would say that one instance of your money keywords should be fine, usually at the higher levels. Ex:

bike tours - France - bordeaux
home - bike tours France - bordeaux

I suppose that everything below a bike tours France will be bike tour related.

but as I told you before there may be exceptions.

I hope I haven't confused you!