What Is Anchor Text?

Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink that provides context about the destination page to both users and search engines. According to Google's own SEO documentation, anchor text helps search engines understand what a linked page is about, making it a direct ranking signal for the target URL. A 2024 study by Ahrefs analyzing over 2 million web pages found that pages with keyword-relevant anchor text in their backlink profiles ranked an average of 12 positions higher than pages with generic or random anchor text.

In HTML, anchor text sits between the opening and closing <a> tags. For example, in the link <a href="https://example.com">learn about SEO</a>, the phrase "learn about SEO" is the anchor text. This seemingly small element carries outsized importance in how search engines evaluate and rank web content.

What Are the Different Types of Anchor Text?

Anchor text comes in several distinct categories, each with different SEO implications:

Exact-match anchor text uses the exact target keyword as the link text. If you are linking to a page about "link building," the anchor text is literally "link building." This type sends the strongest relevance signal but must be used carefully to avoid over-optimization penalties.

Partial-match anchor text includes the target keyword as part of a longer phrase. For a page targeting "link building," a partial-match anchor might read "effective link building strategies for startups." This is generally the safest and most natural approach.

Branded anchor text uses a company or website name as the link text - for example, "Conbersa" or "Moz." This is the most common anchor text type in natural backlink profiles and signals brand authority.

Generic anchor text uses non-descriptive phrases like "click here," "read more," or "this article." These provide minimal SEO value because they tell search engines nothing about the linked page's topic.

Naked URL anchor text displays the raw URL as the clickable text. Like generic anchors, these provide limited topical context.

Image anchor text occurs when an image is wrapped in a link. In this case, Google uses the image's alt text as the equivalent of anchor text, which is why optimizing alt text matters for linked images.

Why Does Anchor Text Matter for SEO?

Search engines use anchor text as one of the primary signals for determining what a page is about and how it should rank. When multiple websites link to your page using the phrase "best project management tool," Google interprets that as strong evidence your page is relevant for that query.

This works for both external backlinks and internal links. However, the weight and application differ. External anchor text from authoritative sites carries significant ranking power because it represents a third-party endorsement. Internal anchor text helps search engines crawl and understand your site architecture and content relationships.

Google's PageRank algorithm originally assigned enormous weight to anchor text. While the algorithm has evolved considerably since then, anchor text remains one of the most studied and confirmed ranking factors. The key difference today is that Google's algorithms are much better at detecting manipulative anchor text patterns.

How Do You Optimize Anchor Text for SEO?

Effective anchor text optimization follows a few core principles:

Be descriptive and relevant. Anchor text should accurately describe the content of the linked page. If you are linking to a page about building internal links, use anchor text that references internal linking - not something vague like "check this out."

Maintain a natural distribution. Your anchor text profile should look organic. Research from Semrush suggests that a healthy backlink profile typically consists of roughly 40-50% branded anchors, 20-30% partial-match, 10-15% generic, and only 5-10% exact-match. Websites that deviate dramatically from this distribution risk algorithmic penalties.

Vary your anchors. Even when linking to the same page multiple times, use different anchor text variations. Repeating the same exact-match phrase across dozens of links looks manufactured to search engines.

Write for humans first. The anchor text should make sense within the surrounding sentence. If it reads awkwardly or feels forced, it will hurt both user experience and SEO. Good anchor text helps readers decide whether to click.

Avoid over-optimization. Google's Penguin algorithm was specifically designed to penalize sites that manipulate anchor text. If 80% of your backlinks use the same exact-match keyword phrase, that is a clear manipulation signal.

How Does Anchor Text Apply to Link Building and Internal Links?

When building backlinks through outreach, guest posting, or link building campaigns, the most effective approach is to match your anchor text to how natural links accumulate. People organically use the page title, a descriptive phrase, or the brand name when linking. They rarely use perfectly optimized keyword phrases, which is why unnatural anchor text distributions raise red flags.

For internal links, anchor text is one of the most underutilized SEO levers available. Unlike external backlinks, you control every aspect - including the anchor text. Use descriptive, keyword-relevant phrases that match each target page's topic. Avoid using the same anchor text for different destination pages, as this creates ambiguity for search engines.

Today, Google evaluates anchor text in context. The surrounding text, the relevance of the linking page, the authority of the linking domain, and the overall distribution all factor into how much ranking value a link passes. A single well-placed link from a relevant, authoritative page with natural anchor text is worth more than hundreds of exact-match anchors from low-quality sites.