What is an anchor text?
Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink that people see and can click on to go to another Web page. This text is usually blue and underlined, and it is the part of the link you see in an article, blog or Web page. For example, in the sentence "Learn more about SEO here," "here" is the anchor text that leads the user to another page when clicked. The anchor text gives both users and search engines an idea of what to expect on the page the link points to.
The choice of anchor text is important because it helps search engines understand what the linked page is about. For example, if the anchor text contains the word "shoes," the search engine understands that the page likely contains information about shoes. This can improve the relevance of the linked page in search results, especially if the anchor text is closely related to the keywords for which the page is optimized. Therefore, anchor text is often carefully chosen to enhance the findability of a page.
In practice, anchor text is used in different ways, depending on its purpose. For internal links, which connect different pages within the same Web site, well-chosen anchor text helps improve the user experience and effectively pass linkjuice. For backlinks, meaning links from other websites to your site, anchor text can contribute to your page's SEO if it contains relevant keywords. A best practice is to keep anchor text natural and descriptive, rather than trying to stuff it full of keywords. Variety is also important; using the exact same anchor text repeatedly can look unnatural to search engines and may even be detrimental. By using anchor text strategically, you can improve the visibility of your website and ensure better navigation and user experience.
