Published in: SEO

What is Anchor Text in SEO

Author clara evangeline

Published on: 13/08/2024

What Is Anchor Text in SEO? Master This Critical Ranking Factor

If you care about ranking higher in Google, you must understand what is Anchor Text in SEO and why it matters so much. Anchor text is the clickable, visible text in a hyperlink, and it acts as a label that tells search engines and users what the linked page is about. When Google crawls the web, it uses those words as a context signal to interpret topics, assess relevance, and decide which pages deserve to surface for specific queries.

Thoughtful anchor text can strengthen topical authority, improve internal navigation, and help the right pages rank for the right keywords. Poor or manipulative anchor text, on the other hand, can dilute your link equity, confuse crawlers, and even trigger spam filters in modern algorithms. In this in-depth guide, you will learn exactly what is Anchor Text in SEO, the main anchor text types, how to optimise them, and how to use them strategically across your internal and external links.

What Is Anchor Text in SEO?

At its simplest, anchor text is the clickable text inside a link, usually styled with a different colour and often underlined. For example, in the sentence “Read this guide on anchor text,” the word “anchor text” is the anchor. From a technical standpoint, it is the text placed between the opening <a> and closing </a> tags in HTML. From an SEO standpoint, those words are a powerful hint to search engines about the destination page’s topic.

Every hyperlink has three core components that matter for SEO:

1. The linked page. This is the destination URL that loads after a user clicks. It might be a product page, a blog article, a category, or even a file. Search engines evaluate the content, metadata, and engagement signals on that page to decide whether the anchor text and the destination are truly aligned. When the page’s content and the anchor text reinforce the same topic, that link becomes a strong relevancy signal.
2. The hyperlink itself. This is the clickable element users interact with. It includes the HTML <a href=\"URL\"> wrapper and may be styled with CSS to stand out visually. From a UX perspective, good hyperlink styling helps visitors recognise links quickly; from an SEO perspective, clear links make it easier for crawlers to discover and follow pathways throughout your site’s architecture.
3. The anchor text. This is the visible label for the hyperlink. When the anchor text is descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant to both the source and destination page, Google can better “make sense” of your content and why those pages are connected. Generic anchors like “click here” provide almost no context, while keyword-rich, contextual phrases can significantly improve how your pages rank for those topics.

Consider this simple example of what is Anchor Text in SEO:

Here, the anchor text “technical SEO checklist” clearly tells both users and search engines that the destination page is a checklist focused on technical SEO. That clarity is the foundation of effective anchor text optimisation.

Why Anchor Text Matters for Search Engine Rankings

Search engines use anchor text as one of many ranking signals to interpret link context and page relevance. When multiple reputable sites point to your page using descriptive, topic-aligned anchor text, they are effectively voting for your page as a trustworthy resource on that subject. Over time, those signals help your page compete for more competitive keywords, especially when combined with strong content and technical foundations.

Anchor text also influences how link equity flows through your site. Internal links from strong pages using well-chosen anchors can channel PageRank toward deeper content that might otherwise struggle to rank. For example, linking from a high-authority blog post to a conversion-focused landing page with the anchor “SEO consulting services” helps Google understand that the landing page is particularly relevant for that phrase.

There is a user behaviour dimension as well. Clear, relevant anchor text sets expectations about what visitors will find after clicking. When those expectations are met—because the linked content matches the promise—users stay longer, engage more, and are more likely to convert. High engagement and low pogo-sticking send positive quality signals back to search engines, indirectly reinforcing your rankings.

The Five Core Types of Anchor Text

To build a safe, natural-looking link profile, you need to understand the main anchor text types and how each contributes to SEO. A good strategy uses a thoughtful mix rather than relying too heavily on any single type.

1. Exact Match Anchor Text

Exact match anchor text uses the precise keyword or phrase that the destination page is trying to rank for. If your target keyword is “best running shoes,” then using “best running shoes” exactly as the clickable text is an exact match anchor. This type sends a very strong topical signal and can be powerful when used correctly.

The risk is over-optimisation. Historically, SEOs abused exact match anchors by building large volumes of links with identical text, which led to manipulative link schemes. Modern algorithms penalise or ignore these unnatural patterns, especially when most links come from low-quality or irrelevant domains. Today, exact match should be used sparingly, primarily on high-quality editorial links or carefully selected internal links where it fits naturally.

2. Partial Match Anchor Text

Partial match anchor text includes your target keyword along with additional context words, forming a more natural phrase. For example, instead of “best running shoes,” you might use “best running shoes for flat feet” or “guide to choosing the best running shoes.” This still signals relevance for the core keyword while sounding more organic in real sentences.

Partial match anchors are often safer and more flexible than strict exact match variations. They allow you to target long-tail queries, better reflect user intent, and mirror how people naturally talk about topics. When planning what is Anchor Text in SEO for your site, expect partial match anchors to make up a significant portion of your internal and external links.

3. Branded Anchor Text

Branded anchors use your brand, product, or domain name as the clickable text—such as “Nike,” “Shopify,” or “Mailchimp.” These are the most natural type of anchor text you’ll receive organically, because when people mention your brand and link to you, they tend to use your name rather than a keyword.

A healthy link profile usually contains a high proportion of branded anchors, especially from external sites. This signals to search engines that your brand is being discussed authentically across the web and not just linked to for keyword manipulation. You can also blend branded and keyword anchors—for example, “Mailchimp email marketing tools”—to combine brand building with topical relevance.

4. Generic Anchor Text

Generic anchors are non-descriptive phrases such as “click here,” “read more,” “this article,” or “learn more.” They provide little to no topical context for search engines, but they do appear frequently in natural writing, especially when the emphasis is on the call to action rather than the topic.

While generic anchor text has limited SEO value, including some generic anchors in your profile can help avoid over-optimisation. However, if most of your internal links use generic text, you’re missing valuable opportunities to communicate relevance. Reserve generic anchors for secondary CTAs, and prefer descriptive alternatives wherever it makes sense.

5. Naked URL Anchor Text

Naked URL anchors display the raw web address as the clickable text, such as “https://example.com/seo-guide.” These are common in citations, references, and user-generated content where custom link labels aren’t always used. They look neutral from an algorithmic perspective and contribute to a natural-looking link profile.

Because naked URLs lack descriptive language, they don’t carry strong topical relevance signals. However, they still pass authority and can help diversify your overall anchor mix. When you directly control the text (for example, in your own content), descriptive anchor text is generally more effective than naked URLs; but you shouldn’t worry when others link to you this way.

Best Practices for Creating Effective Anchor Text

Knowing what is Anchor Text in SEO is only half the story; using it well is where real results come from. Modern best practices focus on user experience first, then align with how search engines interpret links.

1. Prioritise Relevance and Clarity

Your anchor text should accurately describe the content on the destination page and align with the surrounding context on the source page. If you link the phrase “technical SEO checklist,” visitors should land on a checklist—not a generic homepage or a page about social media tips. This clarity helps users decide whether to click and helps search engines confirm that the link is genuinely helpful.

Think about search intent when choosing your anchor text. Someone searching “how to speed up a WordPress site” expects different content than someone searching “WordPress hosting plans.” Matching your anchor text to the likely intent of the topic increases both CTR and satisfaction after the click. Clear, intent-aligned anchors are a cornerstone of high-performing SEO content.

2. Keep Anchor Text Descriptive but Concise

Google’s guidance recommends anchor text that is descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant to both the page it’s on and the page it links to. Long, rambling anchor sentences are hard to scan and can feel spammy, while one-word anchors are often too vague. Aim for a compact phrase—typically 2–6 words—that captures the essence of the destination.

For example, “complete local SEO checklist” is more informative than just “checklist,” and still short enough to scan quickly. In long-form content, readers often skim; clear, compact anchors help them understand where a link leads at a glance, which improves usability and click-through rates.

3. Diversify Your Anchor Text Types

Search engines expect a natural variety of anchor text across your backlink profile. Relying too heavily on any single type—especially exact match—can look artificial and manipulative. A balanced anchor profile typically includes a mix of branded, partial match, exact match, generic, and naked URL anchors, reflecting how different sites and authors naturally link.

For internal links, you have more control. Use that control to diversify your anchor text intelligently rather than repeating the same phrase every time you link to a page. Over time, this variety helps you rank for a wider set of related queries, not just a single keyword.

4. Maintain Natural Language and Readability

Anchor text should read like part of a sentence—not like a keyword list wedged into a paragraph. When you read the sentence aloud, the anchor should feel seamless. Forced constructions such as “click SEO services best SEO agency here” are a clear sign of over-optimisation and can harm both UX and rankings.

Natural language also means using synonyms and closely related phrases, not repeating the same wording over and over. With advances in natural language processing, search engines can understand that “SEO audit,” “site health review,” and “technical SEO analysis” are related concepts, especially when they appear in similar contexts and point to the same page.

5. Balance Internal and External Links

Your anchor text strategy must consider both internal links (within your site) and external links (from other sites). Internally, descriptive anchors help define your site’s structure and focus, making it easier for crawlers to understand how topics are organised. Externally, anchors contribute to how authoritative your site appears for certain topics.

While you can’t fully control how others link to you, you can influence external anchor text through digital PR, guest content, and clear link suggestions in your outreach. Internally, make it a habit to add contextual links from relevant older content to new pages using strong anchor text—this supports both discoverability and rankings.

6. Test, Measure, and Refine

Anchor text optimisation is iterative. Track how changes in your internal linking and new backlinks correlate with ranking movements for target pages. Use analytics tools to monitor metrics like organic entrances, time on page, and conversions for pages you’re actively supporting with improved anchors.

If you see a page plateau or decline, review its anchor text profile: Are most anchors generic? Are there too many exact matches from dubious sources? These insights should feed back into your strategy so you can adjust future linking efforts and outreach priorities.

How to Optimise Anchor Text for Maximum SEO Impact

To move from theory to practice, you need a repeatable process for optimising anchor text across your site and link-building efforts. Here is a practical framework you can apply.

1. Audit your current anchor text profile. Start with a baseline using tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or other backlink crawlers to see how other sites currently link to you and how you’re linking internally. Identify patterns: which pages get the most keyword-rich anchors, which rely on generic “click here,” and which important URLs have almost no meaningful anchors at all.
2. Map target keywords to specific pages. For each core keyword or topic you want to rank for, decide which page should be the primary target. This avoids keyword cannibalisation and gives you a clear game plan for how to use anchor text to support each page. Document this in a simple “keyword-to-URL” map that your content and outreach teams can reference.
3. Plan internal linking updates. Review existing content and identify opportunities to add or improve internal links pointing to your priority pages. Focus on contextually relevant sentences where a keyword-rich or partial match anchor text would feel natural. Prioritise links from high-traffic, high-authority pages to newer or underperforming content.
4. Guide external anchor text where possible. In guest articles, interviews, or resource contributions, suggest anchor text that is descriptive yet natural, leaning toward partial match or branded phrases. Avoid pushing partners to use the exact same keyword over and over—a varied set of anchors will support broader topical relevance and look safer in Google’s eyes.
5. Monitor impact and iterate. Over the next 4–12 weeks, track ranking changes and organic traffic to your optimised pages. Anchor text is just one factor, but noticeable improvements often follow a well-executed internal linking and anchor optimisation push. Use those insights to scale what works and refine what doesn’t.

Anchor Text Relevance: The Context Connection

Relevance is the glue that holds your anchor text strategy together. Even perfectly formatted anchors fail if they are contextually off-base. Google evaluates not only the anchor text itself but also the content surrounding the link, the source page’s topic, and the destination page’s content.

For example, a link with the anchor “local SEO checklist” coming from an article about small business marketing carries meaningful relevance. The same anchor stuffed randomly into a blog about travel tips looks suspicious and may be discounted. When planning what is Anchor Text in SEO for a given page, always consider whether the linking context makes sense to a human reader first.

Google’s documentation and industry studies consistently emphasise that descriptive, topic-aligned anchor text provides stronger signals than generic terms. Relevant anchors help search engines cluster related content, understand your expertise areas, and present your pages to users with matching intent.

On the user side, relevant anchor text sets accurate expectations about what they will find after clicking. Misaligned anchors lead to confusion and higher bounce rates, which can send negative quality signals over time. By prioritising relevance, you improve both crawl interpretation and user satisfaction at once.

Building a Strategic Anchor Text Plan

Instead of choosing anchors ad hoc, treat them as part of your broader SEO strategy. A structured anchor text plan helps you avoid cannibalisation, reduce over-optimisation risk, and ensure that your most valuable pages receive the support they deserve.

Begin by documenting your core themes—such as “technical SEO,” “content marketing,” or “email automation”—and mapping each theme to a pillar page. Under each pillar, list supporting articles that dive into subtopics. Then, sketch out how you’ll use anchor text to connect supporting articles back to their pillars and across related topics in a logical web.

Next, define guidelines for writers and link builders. For example, you might require that every new article includes at least three internal links: one to a pillar page using partial match anchor text, one to a related article using branded or generic text, and one to a conversion page when relevant. Having these rules documented ensures consistency even as your team grows.

Finally, schedule periodic reviews. Anchor text strategies can drift over time as multiple authors and external partners contribute content. Quarterly audits help you spot new over-optimisation patterns, anchor gaps for key pages, or changes in how external sites are linking to you.

Real-World Anchor Text Examples That Work

Seeing concrete examples makes it easier to internalise what is Anchor Text in SEO and how different types behave in practice. Below are sample sentences illustrating effective usage.

Exact match used carefully: “Our comprehensive anchor text optimisation guide explains how to balance relevance and safety.” Here, the anchor matches the target topic exactly, but appears in a natural sentence within a highly relevant article.

Partial match with added context: “If you’re new to internal linking, start with this practical overview of using anchor text for SEO and user experience together.” The phrase includes the core concept but adds extra words that describe the benefit and context.

Branded anchor that builds authority: “According to recent research by Semrush, descriptive anchors tend to correlate with better rankings across competitive SERPs.” The brand name itself is the anchor, which is natural for a citation and still supports topical trust.

Generic anchor that fits the UX: “For a deeper explanation of internal link structures, read this article.” The anchor is generic, but the sentence around it clearly frames what the user will get, preserving some contextual value.

Naked URL in a reference context: “You can explore the full glossary at https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/seo-starter-guide.” This is common in footnotes and reference sections, where the raw URL itself is the most transparent option.

Anchor Text and Internal Linking Architecture

Internal linking is where you have the most precise control over anchor text, because you own both the source and destination pages. A smart internal linking structure, powered by descriptive anchors, tells Google which pages are most important, how topics relate, and where your expertise is deepest.

Start with your navigation and pillar pages. These should receive a large share of internal links using clear, topic-aligned anchor text. For instance, every time you mention “content marketing strategy” in relevant articles, consider linking that phrase back to your main content marketing pillar page. Over time, this reinforces that page as the canonical resource on the topic.

Within clusters, use anchor text to move users (and crawlers) deeper into more specific content. A pillar page on “technical SEO” might link to pages on “site speed optimisation,” “schema markup,” and “XML sitemaps,” each with anchor text that precisely matches those subtopics. This approach helps Google understand that all of these pages belong to the same topical hub.

Finally, internal anchor text can support conversion goals. Linking phrases like “SEO consulting services” or “request a free audit” to your service pages not only clarifies intent for users but also signals to search engines which pages are most relevant for those commercial terms. Just take care that these CTAs still read naturally within the content and are not over-repeated.

Common Anchor Text Mistakes That Kill Rankings

Even if you understand what is Anchor Text in SEO, it’s easy to fall into patterns that look manipulative or confuse crawlers. Avoiding these pitfalls is just as important as applying best practices.

Over-optimising with exact match anchors. This is the classic mistake: building too many links—especially from low-quality sites—with the exact same keyword as the anchor. Modern spam filters are tuned to detect such patterns, and sites with unnatural anchor distributions risk algorithmic suppression or manual penalties. Instead, mix in branded, partial match, and generic anchors, and focus on earning links from relevant, high-quality publishers.

Using irrelevant or misleading anchor text. Anchors that do not match the destination content create poor user experiences and weak SEO signals. For example, using “free SEO template” to link to a paid consulting landing page is both misleading and likely to backfire. Google’s own documentation emphasises that anchor text should anticipate user expectations accurately.

Ignoring branded anchors. Some sites chase keyword anchors so aggressively that they end up with surprisingly few branded links, which appears unnatural when compared to real-world linking behaviour. In reality, most organic mentions of your site will use your brand name, product name, or domain as the anchor. Underweighting branded anchors is a signal that your links may be manufactured rather than earned.

Using the same anchor text for multiple different pages. If five different URLs on your site are all linked with the anchor “SEO checklist,” search engines may struggle to decide which one to rank for that query—this is a form of keyword cannibalisation. Assign one primary page per core keyword and use more specific anchors for supporting content to keep signals clean.

Monitoring and Evolving Your Anchor Text Strategy

Search algorithms evolve, competitors update their strategies, and your own content library grows. That means your anchor text approach should never be static. Regular monitoring ensures you stay on the right side of best practices and continue to extract full value from your links.

Schedule periodic reviews—monthly for fast-moving sites, quarterly for smaller ones—where you examine: (1) distribution of anchor types across your backlinks, (2) anchor usage for your most important landing pages, and (3) internal linking coverage for new content. Look for signs of risk, such as rising exact match density or a surge in low-quality links using the same keyword.

Compare your profile with top-ranking competitors for your target terms. If leaders in your niche rely heavily on partial match and branded anchors with strong contextual relevance, that’s a signal you should lean in that direction as well. Use findings from these audits to update internal linking guidelines, outreach templates, and content briefs so your entire team stays aligned.

Finally, revisit what is Anchor Text in SEO each year as Google updates documentation and new research emerges. Influential resources from Search Engine Land, Moz, and Google’s own SEO Starter Guide often refine recommendations about how descriptive anchor text should be, how much variety is ideal, and which practices to avoid.

Conclusion

Mastering what is Anchor Text in SEO is about more than sprinkling keywords into links. It is about using anchor text as a precise, user-first signal that clarifies how your content fits together, what each page is about, and which topics you want to be known for. When you combine relevance, variety, natural language, and a clear internal linking structure, anchor text becomes one of the simplest yet most powerful levers for improving organic visibility.

Focus first on clarity for users, then align that clarity with how search engines interpret links. Build a strategic plan, monitor your anchor text profile regularly, and refine as algorithms and user expectations evolve. Do that consistently, and your anchors will not only help pages rank—they will help the right pages rank for the right reasons, driving higher-quality traffic and better business outcomes over time.