What is the Anchor Cloud?

Through our SEO Agency Optimize 360

---

The anchor cloud in SEO: definition and use

In the world of natural referencing, there are many levers to activate to improve the visibility of a site. website on search engines such as Google.

One of these levers is the use of the anchor cloud.

In this article, we're going to explain what this concept means in SEO through a 10-point definition.

 

1. What is the anchor cloud?

The anchor cloud is a collection of all the anchors used to create internal and external links within a website. Anchors are the clickable texts that allow you to navigate from one page to another on the web.

Anchors as an essential element of referencing

As an essential element of SEO, anchors play an important role in search engines' understanding of a page's content. The more relevant and optimised the anchors, the better the site's visibility in search results.

2. How does the anchor cloud work?

Le anchor cloud is taken into account by search engine algorithms to assess the relevance of a page in terms of the keywords searched for by Internet users. These algorithms analyse a number of factors, such as :

1. Keyword density in anchors
2. The number of internal and external links containing these anchors
3. The quality of the sources linking to the page in question

Based on these elements, search engines will assign a relevance score to a page. The higher the score, the better the page's position in the search results.

3. How important is the anchor cloud in SEO?

Optimising the anchor cloud is essential for improving a website's natural referencing. A well-designed anchor cloud will enable search engines to better understand the main subject of a page and the associated keywords. This will increase its relevance score and its position in the search results.

4. How do you create an effective anchor cloud?

To create an optimised anchor cloud, you need to follow a number of tips:

• Variety : It is important to use a variety of anchors to avoid over-optimisation, which could be penalised by search engines.
• Relevance : Anchors must be carefully chosen to match the content of the page to which they link.
• Good distribution : Anchors should be distributed throughout the site, not just on the main pages.

5. How do you monitor the anchor cloud?

It is essential to monitor your anchor cloud regularly to ensure that it remains optimised and complies with SEO best practice. There are a number of tools available online to help you do this, including :

1. Specific software to monitor the anchor cloud
2. The statistics integrated into certain CMS (content management systems)
3. The reports offered by services such as Google Search Console or Bing Webmaster Tools

Monitoring changes in the anchor cloud

Monitoring your anchor cloud also means paying attention to algorithmic changes in search engines and adapting your SEO strategy accordingly. These changes can alter the criteria that search engines take into account when evaluating the anchor cloud.

6. What is the difference between the anchor cloud and keyword density?

Keyword density refers to the number of times an keyword appears in a text, compared with its total size. This concept is often used for on-page optimisation of web page content. The anchor cloud, on the other hand, concerns the links present on a site and not the textual content of a page.

Although these two concepts are different, they need to be mastered together to guarantee complete SEO optimisation of the website.

7. How can I avoid over-optimising the anchor cloud?

La over-optimisation of the anchor cloud is a practice that is penalised by search engines. To avoid this, it is important to follow certain rules:

• Vary the anchors used
• Optimising anchors according to context and page content
• Don't overuse anchors with exact match keywords

8. The use of "Invisible anchors" in SEO

Invisible anchors" are anchors that do not appear directly in the content of a website, but are present in the structure of the site itself. For example, the alt tags of images can constitute such anchors. It is essential to optimise these anchors too in order to improve the site's overall SEO.

9. Generic, textual and image anchors in SEO

There are generally three types of anchor:

1. Generic anchors: these are often made up of general terms such as "click here" or "read more".
2. Text anchors: these are made up of specific keywords linked to the content of the page to which they refer.
3. Image anchors: these are located in the alt tag images and must also be optimised for search engine optimisation.

10. The importance of choosing anchors based on search intent

To choose the right anchors, it is essential to take into account theresearch intention of Internet users. Depending on the query and the expected results, it may be appropriate to use generic, textual or image anchors. The anchor cloud therefore needs to be adapted to the target audience and visitors' expectations.