What Is Anchor Text?
Anchor text is the clickable part of a hyperlink, usually seen as blue and underlined. It’s important in SEO because it should relate to the page it’s linking to. This helps search engines understand the topic of the linked page.
Good vs. Bad Anchor Text:
- Bad Example: “Click here!”
- Good Example: “Learn more about SEO,” “SEO basics,” or “What is SEO.”
Types of Anchor Text:
Exact Match Anchor Text: This is when the clickable text exactly matches the keyword you want the page to rank for. For example, if the target keyword is “anchor text,” an exact match would look like this: anchor text.
Anchor Text Variation: Using the exact same anchor text repeatedly can trigger Google’s spam filters. It’s more natural to have a variety of anchor texts, just like how many links on the web are simply URLs without descriptive text.
Anchor Text Manipulation: Overusing exact match anchor texts can be seen as trying to manipulate search rankings, which is discouraged by search engines.
Targeted Anchor Text: SEO professionals often choose specific keywords for anchor texts when building links to help the page rank for those keywords.
Backlink Anchor Text: This refers to the anchor text used by other websites when they link back to your site. The text used in these links helps search engines figure out which keywords your page should rank for.
One-Way Anchor Text Backlinks: If another website links to your site using an anchor text, and you don’t link back, it’s called a one-way backlink. These are valuable for SEO because they pass authority from one site to another.
Excessive Anchor Text: Using too much anchor text or linking too many times on a page can lead to penalties from search engines, similar to keyword stuffing.
Anchor Text Distribution: This refers to how the anchor texts are spread out across your links. A balanced distribution is preferred.
Spammy Anchor Text: These are links with anchor texts that don’t match the content of either the linking or linked page. This is a black hat SEO tactic and can harm search engine rankings.
Natural vs. Unnatural Anchor Text: Naturally occurring anchor texts (like naked URLs) are okay, even if they aren’t descriptive. Unnatural patterns, such as too many targeted links or a lack of variation, can result in penalties.
Best Practice:
To get natural anchor text, focus on creating quality content that naturally attracts links. This way, the anchor text will come from a variety of sources, and your link profile will look more organic to search engines.