What are the types of links? Branded, generic, EMA
One of the core SEO strategies is link building, which involves acquiring high-quality backlinks from other websites in a natural, Google-approved manner. Before diving into this tactic, it's crucial to understand the various types of links, their attributes, and the methods used to obtain them. This article will address the first of these questions, providing additional insights and tips. It's definitely worth reading!
We will be discussing backlinks in this article. These are links from other websites that point to your site.
We will be discussing backlinks in this article. These are links from other websites that point to your site.
Branded, generic and EMA links
Branded link
A branded link is a natural type of link that we acquire from another website. The anchor text of such a link is the name of our company or domain (remember: anchor text is the clickable part of the link, or simply the link text). If someone links to our site objectively, meaning they don't gain any benefits or rewards from it, they will simply link to our domain. More specifically, they won't use any special keyword that the linked page is optimized for. The person linking to us in this way simply likes our site and wants to share it with others, for example on social media. A branded link will have the following form in HTML code:
What is the impact of a branded link? If we acquire a branded link from a strong domain (one that ranks highly in SERPs and has a good reputation), Google will improve our search engine rankings for the keywords we are targeting for the linked page. Since the anchor text doesn't contain any keywords, Google will still boost our rankings for those keywords (provided we have optimized the page).
Generic link
A generic link differs from a branded link in its anchor text. Instead of using the domain name, it uses phrases like "Click here" or "Learn more." These phrases are known as calls to action and are designed to encourage the user to click. While they don't contain any specific keywords related to the linked page, they can still be effective in driving traffic. Generic links are commonly found in various publications and articles. A generic link in HTML code would look like this:
It looks like someone is writing an article on a specific topic and linking to us, writing: 'Find out more here.' The word 'here' is the anchor text. Again, Google might boost our search engine rankings for the keywords we are targeting and have optimized our page for.
EMA link
EMA stands for Exact Match Anchor. These are links where the anchor text contains the exact keyword you're targeting. For example, the link text might say 'historical novels,' 'starting a garden,' 'how to get rid of aphids,' or 'mattresses,' and the page it links to is optimized for those exact keywords. An EMA link would look like this in HTML code:
For a long time, exact match anchor (EMA) links were considered the most effective for SEO. They significantly boosted a website's ranking as they contained the exact target keyword. In the past, EMAs could almost 'trick' Google into ranking a page highly for a specific keyword. This phenomenon was known as Google bombing. However, search engine algorithms have evolved, and now it's impossible to achieve high rankings solely through backlinks containing a specific phrase if that phrase isn't present on the linked page.
Exact match anchor links have become the most toxic type of backlinks. This means that even a small number of them can trigger a search engine penalty for unnatural link building. Acquiring 100 EMA links in a short period can be more harmful than acquiring even 500 branded or generic links, such as those using the URL as anchor text (these are just examples). It's generally considered safe to have around 10-15% of your backlinks as exact match anchors.
Due to these changes, a diversified link building strategy is essential. This involves acquiring links from various sources using natural methods and obtaining different types of links.
➡️ Read also: Should you optimize your website for branded keywords?
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Jan Wojciechowski
Content Marketing Specialist
Content Marketing Specialist with several years of experience. Studied Marketing and Management on the University of Warsaw. In his work he tries to combine his writing skills, content knowledge and passion for new technologies. Privately he likes to do sports, read books and illustrate them.