What is Anchor Text?
An anchor text or link text is the text of an HTML hyperlink.
The purpose of anchor text is to explain the content of the linked page, which it distributes to users and search engines.
The term “anchor” comes from the older versions of the HTML. This utilises the <a> tag (mostly referred to as “hyperlink” these days) was called “anchor.”
The visual code for a hyperlink is as follows;
<a href=”url“>link text</a>
Types of Anchor Text
SEOs segment anchors into seven primary types:
- Exact match – An exact match or phrase that the target page is trying to rank for.
- Phrase match – A keyword phrase containing the target keyword the target page is trying to rank for.
- Partial match – All of the words of the target keyword appear, but not as the exact phrase.
- Branded – The brand or company of the target page.
- Generic – These are generic phrases, such as “here”, “click here” etc.
- Image alt text – The alt text of an image used in a link.
- Naked URL – The target URL as it appears in a web browser’s address bar.
Why Anchor Text is important?
Anchor text is designed to provide additional context to the linked resource or page, allowing users to better understand what they should expect prior to clicking through the hyperlink.
In terms of SEO, Google explains that anchor text provides additional context for search engines about the linked page – this may influence the linked pages overall rankings as it provides additional signals of trust and contextual relevancy.
