Most marketers know link building is critical in boosting search engine rankings—however, the words you choose to link your site matter too. You may be using anchor text daily but don’t even realize it. Anchor text, or link text, is the clickable text of a hyperlink.
Anchor text is one of the minute components of SEO that has a significant impact. Besides webpages, anchor texts can link documents or PDFs on Google Drive and initiate downloads. This is why you must click only on those anchors that generate from trusted sites. Otherwise, you may unknowingly harbor viruses and malware on your site and device.
Why is the content used in anchor texts important?
The content or the information that you use in your anchor text plays a vital role for the following reasons:
- It informs the reader beforehand about what to expect on the other side of the link. Therefore, anchor text should be engaging, highly relevant for the user, and convincing enough to click on the hyperlink.
- The algorithms on Google get to understand the content on the link. Google’s algorithms verify that you are not engaging in any spam and check that the topics are linked in your copy.
Which practices should SEO services apply to anchor texts?
The following practices can be applied only to the anchor texts within your website. The anchor text generated by other sites linking back to your content is not under your control. Professional SEO services implement these practices to the anchors.
1. Brief anchor text
Although there is no word limit or length limit for anchor texts, it is better to be as concise as possible. The anchor text you use should accurately describe the linked page. Furthermore, it should use words or phrases that encourage users to click on the hyperlink.
2. Target page relevance
Search engines use multiple metrics to determine the rankings of websites. One of those metrics is link relevancy, where search engines check the applicability and connection between Page A and B. A highly relevant link can improve the rankings of both pages if they address the queries on the page.
Link relevancy is a circumstance where people reach out to other content on the web. It is influenced by the topic of the source page and the content of the anchor text used on the same. Links that address the content on the source page will be more relevant than other links with unrelated content.
Search engines also inspect the variations of anchor texts that link back to the same page. They perceive these as additional indicators that can be needed for search queries. Other methods like natural language processing and information hierarchy can also become link relevancy indicators. To have higher relevancy, describe your target page in the anchor text.
3. Anchor text keyword density
Using keywords in anchor text has become routine and can sometimes trick search engines. Since most inbound links use the exact keywords and similar anchor texts, search engines could think that the links aren’t acquired naturally. While using keywords and topics in anchor texts is still practiced, you could experiment and use more natural phrases.
Keyword stuffing should be avoided when deciding on the anchor text. Internal linking is a good practice but can severely affect SEO if the exact anchor text is used. If multiple links use the same anchor text, the search engines can sense spammy behavior on your website.
Final Thoughts
Anchor text is a factor that directly impacts your SEO. It is one of Google’s most used ranking factors and a reliable source of information for readers. Anchor text helps search engines and users to decide if the link is worth visiting. Your responsibility is to make the anchor text worth their click. First Rank is the best SEO services USA. They can help you get a higher search engine ranking, get more web traffic, get more leads, and make more sales.