What is Anchor Text? Proper Guide of webpage SEO and Ranking

What is Anchor Text?

Google states that anchor text is crucial for ranking factors. Google determines the anchor text and ranks your page that is linked to rank for specific keywords accordingly. Anchor text is substantial to use if you want to rank your page in search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo. These browsers sometimes show the anchor text differently.

This is not something very hard to understand. Anchor text is the clickable hyperlink on the webpage, which is linked to another webpage. For example, have you checked the blue underlined words while reading an article or web page online? Yes, that is anchor text. Sometimes it is a random word on the pages which is linked to another web page and sometimes “Click here” is the option on the website. This blue underlined hyperlink can be changed by HTML or CSS. Anchor text HTML lets you change the color and underlining of the text easily. This anchor text helps you in ranking your page top in search engines.

Different Types of Anchor Text

Some pages use external anchor text to link to your site even if the targeted keyword of your web page is different. Pages try to use a variety of different keywords to rank themselves well by using your page link but changing the anchor text on search terms. Anchor text should be relevant and descriptive to use.

Exact Match

Anchor text is an “exact match” if that specific anchor text is the same targeted keyword the page is linked to. For example, “backlinks checker” is the anchor text for the page that is “backlink checker” It means that this is an exact match of the keyword. Other pages did not use a variety of other anchor text to use other than the targeted keyword the page is linked to.

Phrase Match

The phrase match is not an exact match of the keyword, but it is the phrase match of the exact keyword of the page it is linked to. If you want to link back from another page but don’t want to use the exact keyword, you can use a bit addition of keywords. For example, “Ahref backlinks checker” which is linked back to page “backlinks checker.”

Generic Anchor Text

Some pages use generic anchor text in their pages to link back to other web pages. Such generic anchor text is also called random anchor text. They are such as “Click here” or “Check this out.”

Naked Link Text

This kind of anchor text is a URL pasted on the webpage. It is not a proper hyperlink, just a simple web URL. It is clickable. As you can see links on the bottom of the pages. They are not as captivating and look good on the webpage to the audience but Google likes such naked anchor text. It shows that nobody is trying to use spammy anchor text to rank for keywords.

Branded Anchor Text

You can use the brand anchor text linked to any webpage of that brand. For example, “WooTools” anchor text of brand “WooTools blog.”

Image Anchor Text

If you link back the image, Google will use the text in the alt’s attribute of the image as anchor text.

Manipulation of Anchor Text

Over-optimizing the anchor text so search engine can rank your web page often lead to penalties. Following are some anchor text manipulations:

Backlink Anchor Text

The backline anchor text is the one that is linked back to another webpage. Other websites use backlink anchor text to your website. These backlinks help Google, Yahoo, or Bing to determine the main keyword a page should rank for.

Excessive Anchor Text

A lot of keyword stuffing can lead you to no SEO ranking, likewise, excessive use of anchor text can lead to un-friendly and spammy text by search engines. It can also lead to Google penalties if too many keywords on a one-page website are linking back too many pages.

One-Way Anchor Text

One Way Anchor Text Backlinks are those anchor text in which one-page backlinks to another webpage. More one-way anchor text backlinks from other websites, the main web page has higher chances of getting rank on such engines.

Red Alert Anchor Text

These are spammy anchor text, which is linked to the webpage with which it has no relationship. These anchor texts are just SEO tactics to rank yourself better on competitive keywords. These anchor text can also harm the other webpage ranking and that web page can go through negative SEO.

Length of Anchor Text

There is no specific length of anchor text given by any search engines, but it is always recommended to keep the anchor text hyperlink as succinct as you can. You should make the anchor text engaging and interesting so the user immediately clicks on it. Your anchor text hyperlink should be concise and relevant.

Link Relevancy

Google and other search engine algorithms are smarter than any human being. They can detect if you add spammy anchor text or hyperlinks on the web page. Therefore, adding relevant anchor text or hyperlinks to another webpage is a must. If your links are out of context and not relevant, it will only affect your ranking.

It is better to keep the anchor text natural. Google can detect if you use exact anchor text in too many site’s inbound links. This gives the reflection that these links are not acquired naturally and Google can be suspicious about them. It is better to use keyword specific anchor text or topic-specific anchor text in the backlink, so it becomes more authenticated. Natural phrase anchor text can help you with SEO.

If you are linking back to your website, don’t spam with internal keyword links. Internal links in a condition of spam can be harmful to your site and ranking. Don’t use too many similar anchor texts for your website.

What should you do to obtain a natural anchor text that won't be a red alert for Google? Natural anchor text backlinks to your website can be obtained by creating good content on the specific topic and creating a great link, the anchor text would come naturally.