What is the best way to make use of internal anchor text links without appearing to be a 'spammy' webpage?

[RobertHill]

I've recently been spending some time going through all the content on our website, henstuff.com, adding internal anchor text links to product copy with the link following back to the product's generic catagory. I've been focusing on the search term 'hen party accessories', but have also been using 'hen do accessories' and 'hen night accessories'.

I know that internal linking has value when it comes to SEO and rankings, but was keen to find roughly at what point usage of a certain search term for anchor links is seen as spam by the engines. Is there a certain formula to follow when it comes to internal anchor text links?

You can see some examples at:

http://www.henstuff.com/hen-night-accessories/hen-party-accessories/willy-bubbles

http://www.henstuff.com/hen-night-accessories/hen-party-devil-horns/hen-night-pink-devil-horns

Many thanks

Oli

[therealmarkhall]

I try and keep it to 1 link every 300 words (or page) and I mix up the anchor text so its not always the same to prevent it from looking spammy.

Rememeber you need to link across all your pages, not just have a load of anchor text links heading to the home page

[RobertHill]

Thanks for that! For instance, I've added inlinks to around 45 products thus far, with just over 20 each for 'hen party accessories' and 'hen night accessories', is that a correct sort of balance?

And also, is it detrimental to have lots of internal links back to one specific page?

[vforvinnie]

I agree with Mark, that seems like a safe ratio.  I also suggest mixing up your anchor texts with synonyms and reworded phrases if it still sounds logical.  For instance "cat toys", "toys for cats" "toys made for cats" etc.  While some people are concerned about the internal anchor texts and overdoing it, you need to think about the user.  If clear and distinct anchor text is good for conversions and helps your visitors find what they are looking for, you should do it.

That should also give you an idea of how many links are good.  5+ links in each paragraph or content would be confusing for users, and bad for SEO.

[RobertHill]

Great answers thanks. In terms of where to link to, is it necessary to divide equally between different pages on the website, or does it help for SEO purposes to have lots of links to one particular page?