Hi Andrew,

I have a question for you – what is an Anchor Text?

I have heard people using this term in connection to search engine optimization but I’m still clueless.

Thanks in advance!

Thanks,
Roy, Memphis (US)

Hi Roy,

Thanks for your question.

The anchor text, link label or link title is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. The words contained in the anchor text can determine the ranking that the page will receive by search engines. Since 1998, some web browsers have added the ability to show a tooltip for a hyperlink before it is selected. Not all links have anchor texts because it may be obvious where the link will lead due to the context in which it is used. Anchor texts normally remain below 60 characters. Different browsers will display anchor texts differently.

That’s taken directly from Wikipedia.

What you want to keep in mind with Anchor Text is that when you build links for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) purposes you want to make your links look NATURAL!

Anchor text plays huge role in link quality and can greatly affect your rankings for any given keyword, hence you want to use keywords related to your niche BUT as I said, you want to keep your links look natural. And by that I mean – more than 50% of links you generate should have anchor texts like:

* Click Here

* More Info Here

* YourCompany.co.uk

* www.YourCompany.co.uk

* http://www.YourCompany.co.uk

As that’s what people mostly use!

If you take a look at blogs for example - very rarely bloggers (and I mean natural bloggers, who blog because they like it not to create links) use complicated, keyword rich anchor text. No, usually they just link your full website address or link “Click Here”.

And Google takes this into account as they gather billions of links & anchor texts all over the world. You don’t want to stand out from the crowd this time – keep it looking natural, only this way you can achieve great SEO results in long term!

Thanks,
Andrew

• Tweet