Anchor Text

Anchor text is the visible, clickable text of a hyperlink. Search engines read anchor text as a contextual signal about the destination page's topic. For example, a link with the anchor text "best running shoes" signals to Google that the linked page is about running shoes, contributing to its ability to rank for that phrase.

Anchor text comes in several types: exact-match (the target keyword verbatim), partial-match (a variation of the keyword), branded (the site or company name), generic ("click here", "read more"), and naked URL. A natural, diverse anchor text profile — mixing all these types — is the healthiest for both internal links and inbound backlinks. Over-reliance on exact-match anchors can trigger spam signals.