If there ever was one huge, gigantic, hush-hush insider SEO secret that the Search Engine Optimization pros don’t want you to know about, it’s this: Anchor Text.

Why don’t the professionals want you to know about Anchor Text? Because it’s their golden ticket to charging customers thousands of dollars in SEO services. And to read through some of these guys’ sales materials, you’d probably think Anchor Text is an advanced programing concept only approachable by NASA engineers or someone with a Ph.D. in String Theory.

Nope. Anchor Text is a very simple concept. And once you know it – and implement it – you’ll be climbing the Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs) in less time than it takes Charlie Sheen to walk out of rehab.

What Is Anchor Text?

I’m glad you asked. It’s actually really simple: It’s the word-for-word text that links to another web page. It’s usually easy to identify because it’s colored differently the words around it.

Here are some examples:

Example 1: Check out this site for some Awesome SEO Tips.

The anchor text is “Awesome SEO Tips”

Example 2: Click HERE for some Awesome SEO Tips.

The anchor text is “HERE”

See how that works? Anchor text is merely a code word for the text that directly links to another web page. Simple, right? It is.

What’s the Big Deal About Anchor Text?

In the infinite cosmic confusion known as Internet Search Engines, solid anchor text can help you work your way up the SERPs for any keyword you want.

How? Use the keyword as your Anchor Text.

Yes, it really is that easy.

As the search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc…) scour the billions and billions of web sites every day, they count how many backlinks each page has, both from other pages on the same site (internal backlinks) and from other websites all together (external backlinks). And while they are counting, they pay particular attention to the anchor text.

Why? Because it make sense that if the Search Engine spiders find several links to a page on your site that include the keyword phrase “How To Sell Orange Tulips In Alaska” as the anchor text, there’s a very good chance that the page does indeed discuss selling tulips in Alaska.

And the more places they find “How To Sell Orange Tulips In Alaska” linking to your page, the more points the Search Engines give you. And the more points you get, the farther up the SERPs you’ll move for people searching for “How To Sell Orange Tulips In Alaska.”

Why Is This Such A Secret?

It’s not really the ultra-underground-organized-crime secret I made it out to be in the intro to this post, but I had to catch your attention somehow, didn’t I?

But there is an element of truth to it, because professional SEO companies use anchor text almost exclusively in their businesses. Here’s how you can do the same:

1. Determine the keyword you want to optimize.

2. Create backlinks all over the internet using that keyword as the anchor text.

Simple, huh? It really is. So get out there and try it!

If You Take Nothing Else Away From This Post…

Don’t use “Here” or “Click Here” as your anchor text. While every backlink does count, which will help your SEO efforts in the long run, the Search Engines will assume your site is somewhat related to the keyword “Here” rather than the true subject of your site.

I just checked Google and found 2.37 BILLION (yes, with a “B”) sites are listed in its SERPs for the keyword “Here.” Most likely because so many people use this horrible word as anchor text. There’s no use in competing on that list – besides, the likelihood of anyone searching for your site by using the search phrase “Here” is very, very low.

Backlinks are essentially the “I-Am-The-Most-Popular-Kid-In-School” philosophy that the major search engines use to determine your site’s credibility. But unlike high school, you don’t need a smoking hot body or the single-season record for most rushing touchdowns to win the online popularity contest, just a little elbow grease and some quality time behind a keyboard.

What Are Backlinks?

Backlinks are simply a link on a particular web page that links to another page. Nothing more, nothing less. See, isn’t this easy?

Backlinks boil down to two varieties: Internal and External.

Internal Backlinks are those that link to another page within the same website. For instance, in my last post I used the example How To Get Tomato Soup Out Of Yellow Dog Fur to explain some basic SEO concepts. See how I threw in that blatant link? It points back to my What Is SEO? post. See! I did it again. Now that post has two internal backlinks, how easy is that?

External Backlinks are links that take visitors to an entirely different website. If you came here from another website, then you followed an external backlink (Hi, by the way!).

Why Are Backlinks Important?

As the search engines routinely scour the Internet for random information, they somehow keep track of how many backlinks each site (and even the pages within the site) has. Then they put this information into some crazy algorithmic equation that would make Stephen Hawking himself shudder, and the result is effectively the Internet version of the Homecoming Court.

That’s right, the more backlinks a particular page has, the more attention the search engines give it. Which makes it more likely that your page will appear higher in the Search Engine Results than similar, but less popular, competing pages.

All things being equal, a web page that has a handful of other sites linking to it will probably out rank an identical web page that doesn’t have any other sites linking to it. Again, it all goes back to popularity – and as unfair as it may seem, what’s popular usually gets more love.

Why Do Search Engines Like Backlinks?

Google, Yahoo and MSN love good, original content. That’s what most web surfers are looking for when they search for a keyword or keyword phrase. So it’s in the best interest of these Internet giants to give surfers what they’re wanting.

When a search engine sees that a site or page has a plethora of backlinks, they assume that the content must be pretty darned good. Most people won’t link to a site unless it has some excellent stuff. For instance, if I ran a site about building outdoor fire pits and included a link to www.WhatToDoIfYourHairCatchesOnFire.com, it’s probably because I like that site better than any other site that talks about the same stuff. The search engines see that and give that particular website a point.

The more external links the site gets pointing back to it, the more points it gets from the search engines.

Is That All?

Yes and no. At this point you know the basics of backlinks. That’s the good news. The bad news is that there are so many ins and outs regarding these little popularity ballots that I couldn’t possibly begin to include it all on one page.

But fret not, I plan on addressing the intricate details in later updates, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, if you’ve got a burning question about backlinks, leave me a comment.

SEO. The weapon of choice in our assault on the Internet. Real Vikings took stormed beaches in long ships, crazy horned hats, broadswords and sweet beards. The Internet is our beach, and SEO is our broadsword. Sorry, you have to provide your own beard.

What Is SEO?

SEO is an acronym for “Search Engine Optimization.” The fact that it’s an acronym proves it’s important. Things that aren’t important don’t get cute little nicknames. But awesome, powerful and life-changing things do: CIA, VIN, FBI, LEE. Wait, that last one wasn’t an acronym, it’s just a cool three-letter name.

The most basic definition is this: SEO is the process of ensuring your website or web pages show up when someone searches for a term or phrase related to your website.

Why should we care about SEO?

Because optimizing our sites for the search engines is what will bring in free “organic” traffic. By “organic” I simply mean that the search engines  – like Google, Yahoo, and MSN – will see that your site is related to a specific search, and list it in the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs – another cool acronym). It’s free because you’re not paying for any of this, it happens automatically.

Let me give you a little example. I’ll explain it from two different perspectives: the web surfer and the web publisher. I’ll play the role of surfer, and you are delightfully cast as the web site owner.

Surfer (me):

I just spilled tomato soup all over my Golden Retriever, and am desperate to find out how to clean him up before his fur turns into Marinara. So I jump on Google and search for the term “How To Get Tomato Soup Out Of Yellow Dog Fur“. I hit the big search button, wait for a couple of milliseconds, then get a whole list of websites that Google thinks are related to my search query. I browse the first couple of results and see a particular option that says:

“How To Get Tomato Soup Out Of Yellow Dog Fur: Easy Step by Step Guide”

I click on it, read the information, cleanse my four-legged friend of his vegetable stains and smile.

Web Site Owner (You):

As an avid dog lover, and local tomato soup critic, you have plenty of experience with the accidental spillage of tomato soup onto house pets. And because you’ve got a website that you probably created as a fan page to SearchEngineViking.com (let’s call it www.FansOfSearchEngineViking.com), you decide to create a page or blog post specifically dedicated to getting tomato soup out of yellow dog fur. You title your page or post:

“How To Get Tomato Soup Out Of Yellow Dog Fur: Easy Step by Step Guide”

See where I’m going with this? Your page showed up in my Google search, so I clicked on it and visited your site. You didn’t pay a single thing for my visit. I didn’t click on an expensive advertisement you placed on another site, I didn’t hear about your page through an expensive world-wide radio advertisement nor did I even know your site existed until I found it through my specific search.

But It’s Not That Easy

Without boring you with random nerdy details, let’s just say that achieving a listing on the first page of Google (or any of the other search engines) usually isn’t as simple as creating a new page. There are millions, if not billions, of websites out there, and most of them have multiple pages. Do the math and you’ll find that there are exactly 100 kajillion web pages living on the Internet.

How in the heck are the search engines going to know that your should be nestled at the top of the list for “How To Get Tomato Soup Out Of Yellow Dog Fur” when there are so many other pages out there? It’s simple: Search Engine Optimization, or, you guessed it, SEO.

SEO isn’t always easy, but it isn’t always hard either. I’ve had sites show up on the first page of the Google SERPs with minimal effort, and I have others that can’t break into the top 10 pages despite constant grooming. It really depends on several factors, like competition, which I promise I’ll go into at a later date.

What Does SEO do?

If you get nothing else out of this long-winded post, remember this: SEO is the process of telling search engines that your site is relevant to a particular search term or phrase and deserves to be at the top of the list.

Remember that and you’ll be ready to start storming the Internet like an official Search Engine Viking. Plus you’ll have a quick answer if “What Is SEO?” comes up during a game of Trivial Pursuit.