What is Anchor Text?
Anchor text, often referred to as link text, is the clickable text that directs users to different locations—such as another webpage, a section within the same page, or the user’s default email client.
Typically, anchor text is emphasized through highlighting or underlining to distinguish it from the surrounding content.
COMMENT: Although anchor text can serve various linking purposes, this article will specifically address its use in linking to other webpages.
Effective anchor text provides users with a clear indication of what they can expect upon clicking the link, while also aiding search engines in identifying the subject matter of the linked page. For instance, using “resources” as the anchor text to link to a website’s primary resources page would be appropriate.
In HTML, it looks like this:
<a href="www.domain.com/resources">resources</a>Here, “www.domain.com/resources” serves as the target link, while “resources” acts as the anchor text.
In this article, we will explore various types of anchor text, share best practices, and demonstrate how to identify anchor text-related issues using AlphaRank.
Why is Anchor Text Important in SEO?
Anchor text plays a crucial role in enhancing your SEO efforts and improving user experience (UX). Search engines and users depend on internal links—links that connect to your other pages—to navigate your site and grasp the connections between different content.
For instance, the anchor text “AI backgrounds” in a Pic Copilot article clearly indicates that the linked page pertains to AI backgrounds information. Similarly, anchor text for external links (which lead to other websites) provides context regarding the content being linked.
It’s also important to note that linking to external sites can influence their SEO performance, as search engines perceive these links as endorsements—unless you’ve applied specific HTML attributes to prevent search engines from passing on ranking authority.
Using effective anchor text for both internal and external links enhances user experience. Since Google prioritizes websites that offer a positive experience, this can ultimately lead to improved rankings.
Types of Anchor Text
Here are the nine most prevalent types of anchor texts you can utilize on your website:
Branded
This type features a brand name as the anchor text without any extra words. It’s particularly useful for citing sources or linking to a company’s homepage. For example: the branded anchor text “Pic Copilot” points to Pic Copilot’s homepage.
Compound
Compound anchor text includes a brand name (or branded phrase) along with additional context. It’s commonly used when discussing a brand’s products, locations, or specific web pages. In the following example, the anchor text refers to a specific help page from Google: The anchor text “Pop Mart’s unboxing trend” links to the relevant page of Pop Mart’s trend.
Exact Match
Exact match anchor text (often referred to as “money” anchor text) occurs when the link is placed over the precise keyword that the linked page is targeting. This can potentially enhance the linked page’s ranking for that term. For instance, REI uses the anchor text “Shop weekend packs” to link to their product category page.
Partial Match
This occurs when you incorporate a variation of the keyword that the linked page is optimized for. It includes elements of the target keyword while adding other words to offer extra context. For instance, we can see “raise brand awareness” as anchor text linking to a post focused on building brand awareness.
Related
Related keyword anchor text shares similarities with partial match text, but it does not contain the exact target keyword of the linked page. Instead, it utilizes analogous terms or phrases—such as synonyms. For example, the anchor text “long-tail keywords” connects to a page centered on the keyword “how to use long-tail keywords”
Naked
Naked anchor text consists of the exact URL as the link text itself. This format is primarily employed to ensure that readers are aware of where they are being directed. Commonly found in footnotes, bibliographies, or official resource lists, for instance, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) uses naked links when referencing official health-related websites.
Generic
Generic anchor text features vague phrases that offer little information to users (or search engines) about what they can find by clicking the link. Frequent examples include “Click here,” “View more,” and “More info.” Due to its lack of specificity, generic anchor text tends to have low SEO value and may appear spammy; thus, it should be used cautiously. However, it can be helpful when accompanied by clear context, guiding users without overloading the link text with excessive detail.
Image
Using an image as a link means there’s no traditional anchor text. Instead, the alternative text (alt text) within the HTML serves as the link’s anchor. This alt text aids both visually impaired users and search engines in understanding an image’s content. For example, the alt text for an illustration of a marketing funnel might state, “marketing funnel with awareness, consideration, conversion, and loyalty stages.”
Article or Page Title
This approach involves using the precise title of the linked page or article as the anchor text. It’s straightforward and informative, clearly indicating to both users and search engines what the linked content entails. For instance, the website Shape might link to a related article by using the exact title, such as “11 Major Health and Fitness Benefits of Weight Training.”
How to Use Anchor Text Correctly and Effectively?
Anchor text greatly helps both SEO and user experience. Here are some best practices one should keep in mind while using anchor text:
Be Descriptive and Relevant
Use anchor text that describes the content of the linked page accurately. In this way, both users and search engines will understand the context of the link better.
Use Natural Language
It should sound natural in the context. Avoid using keywords that would sound enforced to a reader.
Variate Your Anchor Text
Make your link profile look natural and not over-optimized by distributing these kinds of anchor text variations: exact match, partial match, branded, generic, and long-tail.
Limit Keyword-Stuffed Anchors
Even with important keywords, the overoptimization of those may invite penalties. Keeping the density of the keywords in order will help your link profile remain natural.
Optimize for User Intent
Think of precisely what the user would be searching for when clicking your link. Optimize anchor text to match this intent-whether informational, navigational, or transactional.
Avoid “Click Here” and “Read More”
Generic anchor text, such as “click here,” is a waste of an SEO opportunity and offers nothing to the search engines. Again, make it descriptive and indicative of the nature of the target page.
Consider Where You Place Links
Put important links up higher in the content, making it easier for users to find them and for them to gain better visibility. The context of a link inside the text can enhance its relevance.
Keep it Short and Sweet
Describe the link, but make anchor text short. Long anchor texts are painful for a user to read through.
Monitor and Update Links
Periodically go through your links and update them by pointing them to relevant pages. Also, rewriting anchor text can sometimes give new relevance if the linked content has changed.
Use Internal Links Wisely
Internal Linking helps in SEO. Anchor text is a great way to internally link related pages together within your site for ease of navigation and distribution of page authority.
Consider Accessibility
Clear the anchor text, reading it for screen readers and other assistive technologies. Descriptive anchor text helps with accessibility for all users.
Stay Within Context
It is also important to bear in mind that the anchor text should be relevant to the surrounding content. Contextual relevance can enhance comprehension and interest on the part of the user.
Conclusion
In short, anchor text is pretty important to optimize your website for the search engines and enhance the usability of it. With a combination of descriptive, relevant, and strategically selected anchor text, you will be able to improve not only your site’s SEO but also internally navigate your audience better. Remember, the key to doing anchor text well is focusing on clarity, relevance, and diversity-so that your internal and external linking strategies tie in with your overall content goals.
Through 2024, as SEO trends continue to change and evolve, it will all be about awareness and acceptability to keep the pace of the race. Be one a veteran marketer or a neophyte, perfecting anchor text will make quite a big difference in your digital look-and-feel. So here it goes: put these best practices into action, monitor the after-effects, and watch your website struggle its way up!