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“Why doesn’t Google see my anchor text?” Many people in the SEO community have been asking that question recently, especially since mid-August 2008, when a fair number of SEO bloggers concluded that Google is no longer placing as much emphasis on anchor text as it once did.

As someone who has long been advising Google to stop allowing ALL sites to pass anchor text, I would be surprised to learn that they had in fact devalued anchor text in their algorithm. Google’s historical approach to fixing the problems with its algorithmic assessment of Web sites has been to arbitrarily avoid looking at as many sites as possible.

In other words, Google filters Web sites out of all or parts of its index through a variety of methods. We know Google uses filters of various types because Googlers have admitted as much. So the argument that Google no longer values anchor text as much as it once did is highly speculative — it could simply be that Google no longer values as many links as it once did.

In fact, we have seen Google knock millions of sites out of its index, and filter out many millions of links, on several occasions in the past. The August 2008 Google Link Slam could have been nothing more than the effect of filtering out several million suspect links. People would have lost rankings and, not knowing which of their links no longer worked, they could have concluded that all the links lost some rather than that merely some links lost all value.

So if you’re out there pointing links at some link-poor Web site, and you’re not sure if Google is allowing your links to pass anchor text, here are a few things you can do.

1. Test your linking sources to see what they rank for
2. Test outbound links on your linking sources to see if they pass value to other sites
3. Point links at your linking sources to see if your site can pass anchor text

If your links are not working it could be that your links cannot pass value, or that your page cannot receive value, or that you’re not waiting long enough for your page to receive value.

You need to clock a linking source’s ability to pass anchor text before assuming it will pass anchor text. If you can embed more than one link on a page, put two links on there: one to help your site and one to act as a control. The control link should point to a page on a highly trusted, well-known site with anchor text that is relevant to the content of the destination but for which the destination page does not rank.

If your control destination ranks for your anchor text but your site doesn’t rank for your preferred anchor text, there could be several reasons why. For example, it could just be that you’re competing for a hyperoptimized expression and you need a LOT of value-passing links (in which case, you should not be wasting your time with that expression). It could also be that you’re trying to pass too much anchor text. It could also be that your site has been placed in the Supplemental Results Index and it just needs more value-passing links. And it could be that your site has tripped some algorithmic filter.

Algorithmic filters can be somewhat benign. For example, the presumed aging factor applied to inbound linkage may be alleviated based on the performance of the destination page. That is, your linking source may not normally be allowed to pass value for a few months unless it links to well-established, highly trusted domains.

Google more than likely sees your anchor text. But if you’re wondering why Google isn’t allowing your anchor text to pass to your chosen destination, the most likely reason is that you’re putting links on weak pages, or penalized pages, or pages that trip filters, or your own site just needs more trusted, value-passing links.

Be as choosy as possible when it comes to link acquisition. If the links you obtain don’t pass value, you’ve wasted your time. Focus on evaluating linking resources rather than on link building. You’ll develop a better feel for how to build value-passing links faster than you thought possible.