Anchor text refers to the visible, clickable part of the text in a webpage. In many situations, anchor text appears in a different colour from the rest of the text on the page.
A well-crafted anchor text is one that communicates with readers what to expect once they click upon the link. As such, you need to invest some time in getting your anchor texts just right. By doing so, you’ll be boosting the odds of Google understanding what the webpage you’re linking to is about.
Search engine platforms like Google are quick to spot anchor text and the pages being linked to. Their algorithm is powerful enough to comprehend the relationship and relevance of the target demographic. The more relevant the links are, the better your odds of having your website rank highly in search engine results pages (SERPs).
In essence, if you were to come up with a link to a page that uses the anchor text “prized medallion”, search engines will see this as a sign that the page being linked to fits perfectly with searches on prized medallions. It’s very straight forward.
Grow your Brand
Search engines love to check out pages that have a strong brand image. By making use of branded keywords, you can help grow your brand profile in your trade.
In addition to this, the more people see your brand name in the public domain, the more likely they are going to search for it. When this happens repeatedly, your brand becomes your most powerful keyword.
When you use your brand name in the anchor text, you’re able to build a narrative for your business. You can tailor your content however you like people to view you. By taking the reins on how your brand story is told, you’ll be controlling the perceptions people have of you.
Types of Anchor Text
It’s worth noting that anchor text has plenty of relevance for both internal and external links. External platforms can link to your content in a number of ways.
- Branded links: These make use of brand names as the anchor, e.g. “ClickSlice”
- Plain URL: The site URL can be posted without any accompanying text e.g. “https://www.clickslice.co.uk/”. In many situations, this is not usually helpful.
- The Site name e.g. “co.uk”
- Article Title: This type of anchor text is typically derived from the article title e.g. “How important is Anchor Text for SEO”
- Exact keywords: This makes use of a key phrase as the anchor text
- Partially matching keywords: consists of different variations of the focus keyword to develop a readable link
- Related keywords: makes use of a key phrase that has a relation with the main keyword
- Generic links: It’s okay to use generic links, just try to stay away from cliché text like “Click here”, and “Read more”.
How to Go about It
Developing relevant anchor text is crucially important. What you come up with needs to provide real value to users.
While at it, it’s imperative that the conversation stays natural. There’s no need to force your statements as you try to fit in exact matching keywords. A good way to do this is to imagine saying out the statements you write out loud if it doesn’t sound natural, then, there’s really no need to write it.
Finally, avoid using lengthy words as anchor text. Instead, try to keep everything concise.
What you should avoid
During the early years, you could do as you pleased when it came to crafting anchor text just to grab a hold of the top spots in SERP. Some people even went as far as using the same exact keywords for all the backlinks on their page.
While such schemes tended to boost website ranking back then, all of that changed once Google dropped their very first Penguin update in 2012. That one move changed the link building scene forever.
At present, Penguin scours the web in search of low-quality link building practices. Using anchor text, Google can tell which websites make use of artificial backlinks just to rank highly. The websites which are found to be in violation are usually penalised. Instead of worrying about getting your site penalised, It’s best to hire an SEO Consultant in London like Josh, he can help you with the basic SEO and consultancy elements along the way.
Having shared that, here are some safe practices for you to follow as you develop your anchor text.
- Don’t use spammy anchor text in a bid to get more traction on your platform
- Don’t use too many keywords in the anchor text
- Avoid using text that has doesn’t relate to your agenda
- Don’t try to customise the links too much in a bid to be unique. Keep things simple instead, contrasting font color and/or underline is sufficient. Else, people may miss your links.
