Anchor text refers to the clickable, visible text that appears in a hyperlink. In the vast majority of modern browsers, it is typically displayed as blue and underlined text.
It provides contextual information about the content of the link's destination and serves as an indicator of what it may be about.
Search engines such as Google use external anchor text as a way to assess how other people view a particular page. It also helps Google determine the relevance of a page for specific keywords for ranking purposes.
An SEO-friendly anchor text should be short and relevant to the linked page. It’s best to avoid overstuffing it with keywords and generic terms.
Why Is an Anchor Text Important?
Anchor text is important because it provides context to the linked page and helps search engines understand its content. It may have an influence on ranking, meaning that utilizing relevant and descriptive anchor text can improve the visibility of your website in search results.
Additionally, using keyword-rich anchor text can improve the relevancy of your website to a specific topic, making it easier for search engines to categorize your content.
What Is a Keyword-Rich Anchor Text?
Rich anchor text includes more than just the main keywords related to the linked page. It is a descriptive and meaningful phrase that gives context and provides more information about the linked page.
Rich anchor text can include the main keyword(s) but also additional words or phrases that give users a better idea of what the linked page is about and why they might want to click the link.
Types of Anchor Texts
Anchor texts can be categorized into six types:
- exact-match (including a keyword that mirrors the linked-to page),
- partial-match (using a variation of the keyword),
- branded (using a brand name),
- naked link (URL only),
- generic (a generic word or phrase),
- images (using the text contained in the image's alt attribute).
How to Improve Your Anchor Text
When crafting anchor text, the goal is to keep it brief while accurately describing the linked-to page and using terms that will encourage users to click on the link. There isn't a set length for anchor text, but conciseness is generally preferred.
Here are two questions you can ask yourself when choosing the terms your anchor text will include:
- What’s the most straightforward and concise way to describe the page the anchor will link to?
- What kind of phrase attracts users and makes them curious to see what’s under the link?
Relevance of the Target Page
Link relevance is an essential factor that search engines use to rank pages. It is determined by:
- the topic of the source page,
- the content of anchor text,
- how related the topic is to the linked-to page.
Links that lead to content related to the topic of the source page are much more likely to send stronger relevance signals than links to unrelated content.
For example, a page about the best stroller you can buy in Toronto will send a stronger relevance signal to Google when it links to a baby essentials shop website and not, for example, to a site with tips on taking care of a puppy.
The anchor text used to link back to a page can also provide additional information about the topic of the page and its relevance for certain search queries. To ensure strong relevance signals, the anchor text should be descriptive of the target page.
Keyword Density of the Anchor Text
The Penguin algorithm update marked the time when Google started to scrutinize the use of keywords in anchor text. Since then, overusing the same anchor text for a site's inbound links can appear suspicious and could indicate unnatural link acquisition.
Although it's still recommended to use keyword- and topic-specific anchor text, a variety of natural anchor text phrases may be more effective for SEO. Still, remember to be cautious when using keyword-heavy internal links for your site, as excessive use of the same anchor text for internal links could be seen as spammy behavior by Google.
