Backlink Anchor – Keyword Ratio Match – New Golden rule of SEO ?

Back to some basics today. Just to clarify some wrong ideas and to introduce you to some new insights.

A quick brush up on Keyword Density and Keyword Variation.

First off, a word of caution. Don’t take either of these too seriously. Please don’t go into the intricacies of it, like counting the number of times your keyword has been repeated in the entire copy or using the dictionary to find related keywords, re arranging them with the number of times they’ve been searched on Google.

What is Keyword Density ?

Probably you’d know a better explanation than me, but in my opinion its the awkward ratio of the number of times a selected keyword is repeated to the entire words in the copy.

What is Keyword variation ?

The number of alternative and related keywords to the original keyword used in the entire copy.

Okay, so though Google have been repeatedly saying that Keyword Density is not a factor that search engines take into consideration while deciding the importance or search engine friendliness of a page, many SEOs still see it as a good factor that determines the “seo strength” of a page.

It may be true technically, and may be proven that an article/page that has a decent keyword density, can indeed get good search engine results. But the question is is keyword density the ONLY factor ? Definitely not. Had Keyword Density been the sole factor that helped search engines decide the content of the page, then it would be easy to skew and manipulate things to our needs. So no, Google probably won’t give it much importance (in a singled out scenario) as much as other factors.

In my opinion, Keyword Density works, but not to the level of saying that if you follow 6% keyword density, then that’s your key to top results, No. Keyword density works with a host of other factors. And IF the other factors are supportive, then Keyword Density would get more importance than it would get on its own.

Let’s take an example.

Keyword : “Keyword Density” (how ironic!)

If I were to use the word “keyword density” on this article with a 7% ratio, then this article is ideally the best optimized copy in Google’s eyes.

But if I was a Google bot, on seeing the strange 7% keyword density, I would look for other factors to see if this was actually a deliberate move by the webmaster to artificially highlight the keyword.

Here’s where the “Backlink Anchor – Keyword Ratio Match” becomes inevitable.

So, what is “Backlink Anchor – Keyword Ratio Match”

This a humble calculation I made, analysing various factors that search engines might consider trying to find value in the SEO metrics of a site. I’ve kept aside all the seemingly complicated stuff and is only focussing on the idea of “manipulated v/s realistic seo algorithms”.

Factor 1 = Number of backlinks

Factor 2 = Number of original keyword mentions in Factor 1

Factor 3 = Keyword Anchor Ratio = (No. of times keyword mentions in Factor 1 / Total number of backlinks or Factor 1)

Factor 4 = Keyword Density Ratio

So, technically, if the Keyword Anchor Ratio and Keyword Density Ratio are 1, you have the perfect optimized page. But perfect numbers are a big no-no in SEO.

So, ideally, if you have a good number of backlinks and backlink anchor mentions, creating a healthy “Keyword Anchor Ratio”, which compliments the “Keyword Density” and the “Keyword Variations” on an article/page, then it makes a compelling reason for Google bots to rank you better. It gives more strong clues to Google that yours is a more relevant page than anyone else on the SERPs.

Some clarifications.

- You don’t need huge number of backlinks to get a healthy “Backlink Anchor ratio”, you only need a bunch of relevant and healthy sites.

- You don’t even need a perfect 6-7% keyword density. You need a healthy co-existence with the right keyword density and keyword variation.

Summary

Crafting up a copy with mathematical formulas, resulting in X % keyword density or keyword variation is not the right way to develop content. Because its not natural, it could give wrong signals to Google about the content on your site. So don’t ever try to be strict with formulas and expect good results.

Instead, do your part by writing healthy articles using the basics, like sticking to the original theme, and using the proper keyword variations as much as possible. Don’t make it look machine written.

Now, combine this with a natural link building strategy (sounds un-realistic I know), where the linkers use proper anchor texts to link from related pages/sites giving you natural suggestions, and making your articles a better authority on the original subject.

(I mean, don’t go begging others to link to you. If you’ve written an interesting article, people will naturally link to you. And then it makes sense to approach them and if they’ve not done it right, request them for a better anchor text. As, I said, you don’t thousands of backlinks, but a few couple of relevant ones that has the right authority.)

This in my opinion, will not look artificial or manipulated to Google (unless you over do it), and serves more like a natural way of identifying the right authority content, resulting in better ranks.

Possibly related SEO & Social Media Articles

• 10 Factors determining SEO value of backlinks & How to find them with a Backlink Checker
  What is the most mundane job on earth ? Being an SEO I tell you. Just kidding. But seriously, being an SEO involves a lot of homework. And sometimes it can get tedious when you’re dealing with a lot of data. When it comes to fighting competition, finding out what others are good at is a [...]...
• Google Ranks are heavily influenced by backlinks more than anything else – Example
  Sometimes, the signals are so vivid and evident that its easy to find the answer to SEO questions, from the SERPs. Just take a look at the existing results for the terms you are trying to rank for and that itself will give you lot of pointers on what SEO strategy you should focus on. [...]...
• New SEO Tool – Backlink Checker
  I don’t know if its a SEO thing but I just love finding, tracing and checking backlinks of interesting websites. Just like that ! How refreshing and exciting it is to find the backlinks via Yahoo site explorer ,Google and all the other backlink tools right ? Every time a new backlink pops up, its [...]...
• Is Keyword Density still important in SEO?
  Is keyword density still valid and does it still affect site rankings ? I have to say No. Not to the extent that it is completely ignored but the 6% keyword density formula, surely is not working. Again there are exceptions. I’ve seen that for sites with very less competition and are in the luxury of [...]...
• Find your backlinks with the anchor texts
  Backlinks are very important for your ranks – everybody knows that. How do you normally check your backlinks? - Using Google? OK. So you type in link:www.yoursite.com for your incoming links – cool. But what you get is note really all your backlinks. - You can search for backlinks on Google blog search and it will show all [...]...