Changing links

[pauledwards]

Hi guys i wanted you views on changing the anchor text of links.

I have quality links coming in but with year terms such as 2012 in there, if i want to change them all to 2013 for example would it be badly seen by Google?

I cant say i feel comfortable about doing it but they are my links and are related to our products.

Any advice much appreciated.

[Audiohype]

Hi Paul,

It would be useful to have a little bit more information. Is the year relevant to the rankings? For example "euro 2012" would be valuable for a site trying to rank for these as the year is going to appear in the search.

Do you have access to all of these links to be able to change them then?

Ben

[pauledwards]

I can change the linsk yes.

Pretty relevant yes for booking in the year.

[Audiohype]

In that case I would suggest changing a couple and reviewing any changes in rankings as a result. This is one to approach slowly.

Not sure how you have access (are they paid?), but by changing a large amount of links at the same time it may alert Google to some suspicious activity. Large changes in anchor text can be a sign of changes to bought links.

Personally, I wouldn't change them all either. Even though the year is wrong, there's still going to be benefits. e.g. if you are trying to rank for "holiday in new york 2013", your rankings will still benefit from keywords saying "holiday in new york 2012".

Take it steady and keep reviewing the results, but bear in mind you may be better focusing your efforts on building new links with new anchor text.

Hope that helps,

Ben