Anchor Text: What It Is, Different Types, & 5 Best Practices

What Is Anchor Text?

Anchor text is the clickable text of a hyperlink on a web page. It provides context and informs users and search engines about the content they can expect to find on the linked page.

You’ll often see anchor text as blue, underlined text.

Here’s an example:

Meta descriptions play an important role in increasing clickthrough rates and organic traffic.

In the above sentence, “meta descriptions” is the anchor text.

And, as you can guess, the link leads to a blog post about meta descriptions.

What Role Does Anchor Text Have in SEO?

When it comes to SEO, anchor text serves several important functions, including:

• Keyword Targeting: By using relevant keywords in your anchor text, you can signal to search engines that a particular page is relevant to those keywords. This can help improve your website’s ranking for those terms.
• User Experience: Anchors provide users with a clear indication of where a link will lead them. This can enhance user experience and encourage them to explore your website further.
• Relevance Indicator: When a search engine encounters a link, it analyzes the anchor text to determine how relevant the linked page is to the surrounding content and the overall topic of the website.
• Internal Linking: Anchor text is crucial for internal linking, which involves linking to other pages within your own website. By using relevant and descriptive anchor text for internal links, you can help search engines understand your website structure and the relationships between different pages.

9 Types of Anchor Text

Here are the most common types of anchor text:

Branded Anchors

Branded anchors include a brand name and have no additional words.

For example: LowFruits is a leading keyword research and SERP analysis tool.

In the above sentence, “LowFruits” is the anchor text and links to our homepage.

Branded anchors help reinforce your brand identity and build recognition. They are especially useful for linking to your homepage or other key brand pages.

Generic Anchors

These anchors use generic terms, such as:

• Click here
• Learn more
• Read more

Generic anchors are simple and straightforward, but they do not provide much context. Use them sparingly, and consider using more descriptive options when possible.

Exact Match

Exact match anchor text matches your focus keyword exactly.

A focus keyword is the main keyword you want your web page to rank for. It also describes the main topic of your content.

In the above example, “focus keyword” is the keyword target for the article. This is an exact match anchor.

Exact match anchors can help improve your website’s ranking for that term. However, it’s important to use them naturally and avoid overoptimization.

Partial Match

Partial anchors contain part of the target keyword or change the order of the phrase.

For example, if your focus keyword is “SEO keyword research tools,” then “SEO tools for keyword research” would be a partial match.

Partial match anchors are a good option to avoid using too many instances of exact match anchor text. They add a natural variation to your hyperlinks and provide relevant context to search engines and users.

Related Anchors

These anchors are related to the topic but don’t directly match the keyword.

An example of this may be a linked article optimized for “long-tail keywords” using the anchor “low-competition keywords.”

Both anchors fall under the topic umbrella of easy keywords.

Related anchors can help broaden your website’s reach and attract visitors interested in related topics. They can also help establish your website as an authority in your niche.

Naked URLs / Naked Anchors

Naked anchors display the full URL as the anchor text.

Here’s an example: Visit www.seoboost.com to optimize your content to rank higher in search results.

While naked URLs can be informative, they can sometimes look cluttered and may not be as visually appealing as other anchor text types. Use them carefully, and consider using a more descriptive anchor when possible.

Article or Page Title

These anchors use the title of the linked article or page as the anchor text.

Here are a few examples:

• Best SERP Checkers to Inform Your SEO Strategy [Free & Paid]
• Featured Snippets: What They Are & How to Get Them
• NAP SEO: What It Is & Why It Matters for Local SEO

All of these examples use the linked article’s title as the anchor.

This approach clearly indicates the linked content and helps users navigate your website easily. You’ll often see this type of anchor text under sources or additional reading recommendations.

Money Anchors

Money anchor text uses keywords related to transactions, such as “buy now” or “get a discount.”

Money anchors can be effective for promoting products or services. However, it’s important to use them strategically and avoid appearing overly promotional.

Image Anchors

If your image has a link, the alt text is the anchor text.

Alt text (alternative text) describes your images to search engines. It can also be used for accessibility purposes for visually impaired users.

For example, I’ve linked to the LowFruits homepage in the image below. The alt text (and thus anchor text) is: “LowFruits homepage, a keyword research tool.”

It’s important to be descriptive and succinct when writing image alt text. Effective alt text can improve search engines’ understanding of the image and potentially boost rankings.

5 Anchor Text Best Practices

Here are 5 best practices for writing anchor text:

1. Keep It Natural

Avoid keyword stuffing and ensure your anchor text is relevant and fits the context of the surrounding content. Overusing keywords can appear spammy and negatively impact your search engine rankings.

Instead, focus on creating natural, informative text that accurately reflects the linked content.

Some questions to ask yourself when including hyperlinks and writing anchors include:

• Does this link benefit the reader?
• Does the anchor text accurately reflect the linked content?
• Does it fit naturally within the content where it appears?

2. Be Succinct

Keep your link text brief and to the point. Avoid using long, convoluted phrases that may be difficult for users to understand. Focus on highlighting the most important information about the linked page in a concise manner.

3. Provide Context

Write anchor text that gives readers a clear idea of what they can expect to find on the linked page. This can help improve user experience and encourage clicks. It can also reduce bounce rates, sending positive signals to Google about your content.

Avoid using generic anchor text like “click here” or “learn more” as much as possible.

4. Make Sure Readers Can See the Link

Hyperlinks are often blue and underlined. This makes them easily visible to users and helps them identify the text as a link.

If your website uses a custom design for hyperlinks, make sure they’re easy for users to find. You should use a clear and consistent design for your links to make them stand out from the rest of your content.

5. Keep Accessibility in Mind

Optimize your content for visually impaired users by crafting descriptive anchor text for links and images. It should accurately reflect the content of the linked page or image and be easily read by screen readers. This approach will make your website more accessible to all users.

Master Keyword Research & Find Anchors With LowFruits

Writing strong anchor text involves knowing how to leverage your keywords in a natural and descriptive way.

However, to find the keywords you can use for your SEO anchor text, you’ll need to start with keyword research.

LowFruits simplifies the keyword research process for small business owners. With the help of tools like the KWFinder, you can pinpoint low-competition keywords that are easy to rank for.

LowFruits also has a unique SERP Difficulty Score (SD) metric and shows ranking websites with low domain authority. These are called Weak Spots because they’re easy to outrank — even for new websites.

These keywords are prime ranking opportunities for your website. Using them strategically in your content, including link text, can dramatically improve your visibility in the SERPs.

You can also keep an eye on your rankings using the Rank Tracker.

This is one of the best rank tracker tools due to its ease of use and quick setup. It’s extremely intuitive, allowing beginner and advanced SEOs to monitor keyword positions effectively.

To learn more, check out the LowFruits Academy, which provides a comprehensive overview of all the features you can use to unlock higher rankings on the SERP.

Final Thoughts

Anchor text plays a crucial role in both user experience and search engine optimization. By crafting effective SEO anchor text, you can:

• Improve your website’s search engine rankings.
• Enhance user navigation and engagement.
• Strengthen your internal linking strategy.

When creating link text, remember to prioritize relevance and brevity. Use various anchor text types to keep it natural and avoid keyword stuffing.

By following the anchor text best practices outlined in this article, you can optimize your website’s SEO and provide a positive user experience.