Definition of Anchor Text

Written by Nick Stamoulis

Anchor text is the clickable, often blue and underlined, text in a hyperlink. Though usually blue, the anchor text color can be changed to match that of your website’s colors. An anchor text is used when the creator of the website wants to hide a link under text. An HTML code can turn a phrase or word into anchor text. The anchor text can be clicked on by someone visiting your website just as a regular link would be.

Anchor text is an important search engine optimization (SEO) tool when used correctly. The word or phrase you use should relate to the landing page content. If you want your web page to rank for certain major keywords, the anchor text should contain one of them to help the process. Anchor texts play a role in search engine algorithms, so choosing the words placed within the anchor text should be taken seriously. Using phrases such as “click here” will not help your website rank well, or at all, in search engine searches.

There are a number of different types of anchor text including:

  • Branded: Branded anchor text uses a brand name.
  • Exact-match: Anchor text is exact-match if it includes words that reflect the page it is linked to. An example would include the word “fitness” linking to a web page that is fitness related.
  • Generic: A generic anchor text would be one such as “click here” or “read me.”
  • Naked link: A naked link anchor is one that uses the URL instead of a word or phrase.
  • Partial-match: A partial-match anchor will include a variation of the keyword on the page being linked to. For example, “fitness over 40” could link to a page about fitness.
  • Images: When an image is linked, a search engine will use the “ALT” tag as the anchor text.

If you misuse anchor text by using phrases such as “click here” or “read more,” you not only risk not ranking well in search engine algorithms, but your readers may not click on them at all because they aren’t given an idea about where they’ll be taken or what they will be reading about. The anchor text should benefit your readers.

The most optimal way to use anchor text is to make sure the text used is SEO-friendly and relevant to the page it is linking to. This will benefit both the search engine algorithms and your website’s visitors. While there is no length limit, you want to keep it as short and sweet as possible.

If you have words that you are wanting to rank higher in search engines, these are good words to use, but you also don’t want to overdo it by using them over and over again unnecessarily. This is where a partial-match anchor text can come in handy. It’s close, but not exact.

Anchor text is a beneficial tool not only for website creators, but visitors to the website as well.

 

Anchor Text Definition Sources:

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