Anchor Text

What is Anchor Text?

The anchor text or link text is the clickable text of an HTML hyperlink. Its purpose is to explain the content of the linked page or resource to website visitors and search engines.

The term “anchor” comes from the older versions of the HTML specification where the <a> tag (mostly referred to as “hyperlink” these days) was called “anchor.”

When images are used as links, Google processes the image’s alt text as an anchor text of the link.

Example: In this sentence, the blue words are the anchor text.

SEOs classify the seven primary types of anchor text:

• Exact match - The exact keyword or phrase a target page is trying to rank for.
• Phrase match - A keyword phrase containing the target keyword phrase for a page.
• Partial match - All of the words of the target keyword appear, but not as the exact phrase.
• Branded - The name of the brand or company where a target page lives.
• Generic - Any random or generic phrases, such as here, click…, or this article.
• Image alt text - The alt text of an image used in a link.
• Naked URL - The actual target URL as it appears in a web browser’s address bar.

For more information and examples of each type of anchor text, check out our detailed anchor text guide.

Why is anchor text important?

Anchor text (link text) should provide the context of the linked-to material so that visitors know what to expect when they click on a link. Think of it like a road sign that tells you where you’re going next. 

In terms of SEO, according to Google, anchor text provides some additional context for search engines about the linked page or resource so that it may influence the overall rankings of the page. Sometimes, the page can be indexed by Google but not yet crawled only based on the anchor text and the URL!

Best practices for anchor texts

1. Write anchor texts that make sense without the surrounding text

Put yourself in the mind of a site visitor or reader: Isn’t it easier to determine if a link is worth clicking when you can tell where it points to from the anchor text alone?

Generally, exact match or phrase match keywords do the best job of informing readers about a link’s destination, which is why Google and users prefer them.

For example, if we wanted to link out from this page to the Ahrefs keyword search guide, here are the guidelines we’d follow:

• Recommended: “…learn more from our Keyword Search Guide”
• Not recommended: “if you learn more from our keyword research guide”
• Not recommended: “learn more about keyword research here”

At a glance, users know exactly what they’re getting from the first option – no need to read any surrounding text.

2. Avoid keyword stuffing

Including the keywords you want a linked article to rank for inside your anchor text is generally recommended, but it’s a bad idea to use the exact match phrase for every link.

Google may recognize it as overoptimized. Even if this is unlikely to result in a penalty, Google may decide to ignore these exact match links and cost you the link equity opportunity. 

Luckily, you can easily check your anchor texts (for both backlinks and outgoing links) with Ahrefs Site Explorer. Simply navigate to Site Explorer > Anchors under Backlink Profile or Outgoing links.

3. Diversify your anchor texts

When you link out to your own content and resources, it’s important to use variations like synonyms and describe your content from different angles in the anchor texts (where you can control this).

For example, if you’re linking to that Keyword Search Guide we mentioned earlier, you might opt for anchor text like SEO Keyword Guide or even rephrase it as “discover how to do keyword research.”

Lastly, for outgoing links, never use the same anchor text in links on the same page. This is something search engines like Google could view as spammy behavior, so the best practice is to diversify your anchor text while still providing useful context about where the link is pointing to.

FAQs

Is anchor text a ranking factor?

Yes, most likely. According to John Mueller from Google, anchor text does provide some context about the linked page. As a result, it does matter for SEO.

Besides, Google definitely analyzes anchor texts because keyword-rich anchors are mentioned in “Link schemes” section of their Quality Guidelines.

Do image links have an anchor text?

Yes, image alt texts are considered to be anchor texts for their images (if they’re present, of course).