For most online marketers, link building is a vital factor when it comes to improving the search rankings on Google and other search engines. However, the kind of words you use to link into your website are critical too.
These words are commonly referred to as anchor text. Anchor texts are a primary concern for Google algorithms, usually a lot more than most online marketers realize. Previously, you would be able to cheat the system by stuffing the anchors with keywords. But Google realized this and updated the algorithm to check the words you choose to link and how often you use them in the surrounding text.
It is now important to be clear and concise with your anchor texts and be extra careful not to over-optimize them to the point where the text sounds spammy. The technical details are admittedly a bit complicated, but the basics are easy enough for just about anyone to understand and apply.
By looking to optimize (not over-optimizing) your anchor texts and using the best practices, you can easily fine-tune your SEO and watch your rankings soar. Breaking the rules or focusing too much on the keywords instead of the actual content might get you penalized, which is never good.
Anchor text refers to the clickable words (hyperlinks) that are used to link one webpage to another. The text usually comes in a different color than the surrounding text or is underlined. When you click on it, it takes you from one internet location to another – the text literally anchors two different internet locations together.
For example:
Chicago SEO Scholar helps local businesses get more traffic.
In this example the blue text that says "Chicago SEO Scholar" is the anchor text.
Although anchors are typically used to link web pages, they can also be used to initiate downloads or link to documents such as PDFs and files on online directories like Google Drive. This is why you should only click on anchors from sites you trust and hover the link with your mouse to ensure the link is legitimate.
The text you choose for your anchors is important for SEO for a number of reasons:
Links that don’t have anchor text are pretty common on the web and are referred to as URL anchor texts or naked URLs. Different browsers will display anchor texts differently and using anchor text properly can help the page that is linked to rank higher for the keywords used.
HTML for anchor text is quite simple. Here is how anchor texts look like in HTML:
<a href=” http://www.example.com”>Example Anchor Text</a>
The ”http://www.example.com” part is the target link, while the “Example Anchor Text” is the anchor text. This way, it provides both the search engines and the users relevant contextual information about the content contained in the link destination.
It’s also worth distinguishing between follow and no-follow links as this is an article about anchors in the context of SEO. On the HTML side, the only difference is that no-follow links usually come with an extra piece of code. In our example, a no-follow link would look like this:
<a href="https://www.example.com/"rel="nofollow">Backlink Analytics Tool </a>
In the eyes of search engine algorithms, this tiny piece of code has an enormous difference.
The discussion about no-follow links is mainly a topic for backlinks, though it’s still worth considering when choosing your anchor words as well.
Google outlines at least ten different kinds of anchor text, as outlined below:
These are perhaps some of the most recognizable anchor texts. You will often find them on CTA buttons and ads.
A generic anchor doesn’t feature any text to reference a keyword. Rather, the reader relies on the context of the surrounding copy to get an idea of what’s on the other side of the link. The generic anchor might seem a bit spammy, but it’s quite powerful. This is mainly because it includes a straightforward CTA, an actionable language, or draws a direct attention to the link.
Here are some examples of generic anchors:
Branded anchors usually include a brand name and are great for building brand recognition. Moreover, they are generally a safe bet to avoid being flagged for spam. If you have a public figure associated with your brand, like a journalist, CEO, prominent author, etc. Google might identify the links with their names as a branded anchor.
As a rule of thumb, avoid over-optimization to the point of keyword stuffing. Focus mainly on the brand name and avoid tacking on extra keywords. The following are some examples of branded anchors:
The exact match anchor usually includes the precise keyword that the page you link to is targeting. For instance, when someone wants to link to this article using an exact match link anchor, they would do so with words like “anchor text guide”. Just as with the example above, it’s wise to avoid over-stuffing and/or over-optimizing as it could result in worse user experience.
Examples:
Partial match anchors include your keyword phrase as well as other generic, stop, or random words. Some examples of partial match anchors include:
These are used to link a page using a variation of the target keyword. They are similar to partial match keywords, but the related anchors usually don’t include the exact keyword phrase. Generally speaking, you want to build some related anchors to help the search engine crawlers understand what your links are about. Moreover, this will help keep your link profile diverse to avoid being penalized for spammy links.
Examples:
Certain link analysis tools will toss generic and random anchors in the same category. But random anchor words could also include phrases that aren’t too generic and also aren’t related to the target keyword.
Examples include:
It’s quite difficult to give examples of random anchor texts as they could be just about anything and tend to be subjective based on the target keywords of each page.
These are simply URLs pasted into the copy from the browser bar but are clickable. You might come across naked anchors when someone adds references or sources at the end of the article. While they aren’t pretty, Google likes naked anchors because they are much less likely to imply that a person is trying to use spammy practices to rank for a keyword.
These include a keyword and a brand name. They can be helpful if you’re looking to optimize for the keyword without appearing spammy to Google and build brand recognition while at it. Some examples include:
If you’re familiar with SEO, you know that including a little alt text to your image description is particularly important. But do you know that this alt text is what Google reads as the image anchor when the image is part of a link?
Image anchors are important because they help you diversify the text profile of your anchors. They can also boost your Google images ranking. So, you will want to have a descriptive alt text for your image link. Perhaps more importantly, the alt text will provide an image description for the people using screen readers. So, ensure that the alt text is accurately describing the image in question.
These are similar to partial anchors, though they contain a lot more words. They give you the chance to include your keyword along with some descriptive, related, branded, or generic keywords. Sometimes, the long-tail anchors may include a whole headline or subheading for a link. Other times, the writers will link to a whole sentence.
Although you don’t necessarily need to write long-tail anchors all the time, they are often useful for SEO purposes. Plus, you simply can’t control what other sites do.
Examples of long-tail anchors:
Google usually looks at anchor words to learn more about what a web page is all about and rank them for the right keywords. According to the search giant, anchors provide a more objective description of a link compared to what pages can provide for themselves through metadata. This makes a lot of sense, as anchors for backlinks should mostly come from neutral third-party sources.
The anchors also help the search algorithms crawl pieces of content that can't or don’t supply a copy on the internet for indexing. These include apps, images, documents, databases, programs, etc. Anchor texts used to have a great role in the search engine rankings, a bit too much sometimes.
Just as with other SEO rules, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. The rule of thumb is that you should use anchor text that helps with the user experience, such that the user knows exactly what kind of page they will end up on.
But more often than not, webmasters and marketers don’t have control over backlinks. When another webpage links to yours, you might not have a say in the matter. But Google will still pay attention to the anchor words and will use them to judge the kind of content on your website. If you’re trying to manipulate the algorithm with anchors, Google will certainly catch on eventually.
The Google search algorithm is always evolving and is now able to understand that lots of domain names contain keywords. These are actually referred to as exact match domains (EMDs). And as it keeps on updating and deploying its algorithms, you could wake up one day and find that it can now detect the difference between exact match and branded anchor text for EMDs. You just never know.
So, always try to keep your anchors as relevant as possible, avoid any form of over-stuffing or over optimizing, and create the best possible experience for the users above everything else.
Getting familiarized with the different kinds of anchor text won't guarantee you a higher SERP ranking. The following are some of the best practices for anchor text optimization to get you started:
There’s generally a lot of misconception about what a good anchor text is. However, when it comes to SEO, relevancy is crucial. Your anchor text should ideally contain keywords or phrases that closely match the topic of your embedded link.
For instance, if your company offers SEO services to small businesses, and you’d like your readers to navigate to a blog post explaining the importance of local SEO optimization, you will need to add the link. You should ideally choose a phrase or word related to the content as your anchor, otherwise, Google will think you’re trying to manipulate the system.
Google isn’t the only one looking for relevance. If a reader clicks on the anchor and it takes them to a page that’s trying to sell them running shoes, they probably wouldn’t want to ever follow another link on your site. In fact, they would probably not come back to read your content because it’s manipulative.
Tracking how your anchor texts perform on your website will take a bit of effort, but it’s the only way to know how they affect your SEO efforts over time. Tools such as the Anchor Text Categorizer Tool created by Linkio can come in handy here. SEMrush can also help you keep tabs on what kinds of anchor texts are linking to your site.
The main idea behind this is the fact that Google will often use anchor texts as a signal of content relevancy and domain authority. As such, these anchors are essential to your SEO. With enough time, effort, and the right approach to backlinking, you can build a strong backlink anchor base for your brand and enjoy great results.
If you only use an exact match, Google’s smart filter will soon go off and your SEO will potentially take a hit. You will get a similar effect if you’re always linking to brand names. For the best results, using your own unique and varied approach will be best.
Randomness is great when it comes to anchor text. You want to aim for:
Keep in mind that this is just a guideline, not something set in stone. The main focus should be to create a more natural distribution of anchor texts in your post.
As already mentioned, Google cares a lot about the sites you link to. If you link to a website that is spammy, spreads false information, or promotes hate, you can easily be penalized. Even if a site has good intentions, the link may end up hurting your rankings.
Things like checking a website’s Alexa ranking, removing any spammy or hate-promoting sites from the equation, and only linking to websites that have a score of 100k or less (Alexa) is a smart practice.
It’s worth noting that Google’s algorithm understands that sometimes you must link to a “bad site” as a reference. Maybe it’s the only reference available or your content is debunking some information. In such a case, you can use the “no-follow” link to let Google know that you are not endorsing the site and you don’t want it counted against your SEO.
With its recent BERT update, Google showed us that it’s tweaking its search algorithm in favor of the natural human language and the surrounding context. When reading something online, most users will not only check the anchor text to determine if they should click the link, but also read the surrounding paragraphs and sentences to understand the other side of the hyperlink.
With this update, it’s safe to assume that Google is doing that too. It’s worthwhile to consider that Google crawlers will scan the words in an entire sentence (or paragraph) when scanning an anchor text. With this in mind, you might want to avoid using the same anchor words throughout one piece of text, even when linking to different websites every time. Google may see this as over-optimization and penalize you.
Anchor texts are nothing new, but this doesn’t mean they aren’t important. Since 2021, Google has been putting backlinks and anchor texts on an ever-tightening leash, and it’s wise to make sure that you are using the best practices for your own SEO.
It now all up to you as a marketer to be careful about the kind of anchor texts you use, and the surrounding words. And as with other aspects of SEO, moderation and diversity are key. Never keyword stuff and always use naturally diverse types of anchors, while only linking to reputable and highly relevant sources.
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