Anchor Text
Anchor text is the clickable, visible text of a hyperlink. It tells readers and search engines what the linked page is about before anyone clicks.
What is Anchor Text?
Whenever you click a blue underlined phrase on a webpage, that phrase is the anchor text. In HTML, it’s the words that sit between the opening and closing link tags.
Think of it as a small label on a signpost. “Guest posting services” tells you exactly where you’re headed. “Click here” tells you nothing.
Google uses anchor text as one of many signals to understand the page being linked to. That applies to internal links on your own site and to backlinks from other websites.
What Are the Main Types of Anchor Text?
- Exact match: The anchor contains the exact keyword you want to rank for, such as “link building services”.
- Partial match: The anchor includes the keyword along with other words, such as “affordable link building for small brands”.
- Branded: The anchor is a brand name, such as “Link Publishers”.
- Naked URL: The anchor is the raw web address, such as linkpublishers.com.
- Generic: Vague phrases like “click here”, “read more”, or “this website”.
- Image anchor: When an image is linked, Google reads the image’s alt text as the anchor.
Why Is Anchor Text Important for SEO?
- Clearer context: It helps search engines understand the topic of the linked page.
- Relevance signal: Descriptive anchors from related pages can support rankings for related searches.
- Better user experience: Readers know what to expect before they click.
- Smoother navigation: Good internal anchors guide people to your important pages.
- Accessibility: Screen reader users often jump from link to link, so descriptive text matters.
Anchor text is only one signal. The quality and relevance of the linking site matter far more than the exact words used.
Anchor Text Best Practices
- Keep it short, natural, and relevant to the linked page
- Write it so it makes sense on its own
- Mix up your anchor types instead of repeating one phrase
- Use branded and partial match anchors more often than exact match
- Avoid stuffing keywords into every link
- Skip “click here” wherever a descriptive phrase fits
- Make sure the anchor matches what the reader will actually find
- Check your backlink profile regularly for unnatural patterns
What Most People Do Not Know
- A natural profile looks messy: Real websites earn a random mix of branded, generic, and URL anchors. A profile made up mostly of exact match anchors can look manipulative.
- Over-optimization can backfire: Google’s spam policies target link schemes, and unnatural anchor patterns can be one of the signals.
- Surrounding text counts too: The words near a link give extra context, so a link placed in a relevant paragraph carries more weight.
- Internal anchors are fully in your control: You can’t choose how others link to you, but you can choose how you link to your own pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
In the sentence “Read our guide to guest posting,” the words “guest posting” would be the anchor text if they link to a guest posting page.
There is no fixed rule, but two to five words works well for most links. It should be long enough to be descriptive and short enough to read naturally.
Not by itself. The problem is using it too often. A small share of exact match anchors is normal, but a profile full of them can look forced.
Yes. Internal anchors help Google understand how your pages relate to each other, and they help visitors find what they need.
Google treats nofollow as a hint and may not pass ranking credit through it. The link can still bring referral traffic and brand visibility.
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