What Is Anchor Text? Everything You Need to Know for SEO

Julia McCoy

May 26, 202115 min read
What is Anchor Text

Most marketers know that link building is one of the countless critical factors for boosting your search engine rankings in the eyes of the Google Gods. 

However, the words you choose for linking out and into your site matter too—and quite a lot! Those words are called anchor text, and Google’s algorithms pay more attention to them than newbies (and even some marketing veterans) realize.

In the early days, you used to be able to game the Google system by keyword stuffing anchors. Well, Google noticed and now carefully watches not only which words you choose to link, but also how often you use them and the surrounding text. It’s important to be clear and concise in your anchor text, but be careful not to over-optimize to the point where the text sounds spammy.

Yes, the technical details are complicated, but the basics are easy enough for everyone to understand and apply.

By optimizing—but not over-optimizing—your anchor words and learning the best practices, you can fine-tune your SEO and watch your rankings climb. If you “break the rules” or focus too much on keywords and not enough on the actual content, Google can penalize your site. (Not good).

What Is Anchor Text, and Why Is It Important?

SEO is a complex matter that consists of thousands of little details. Anchor text is one of these details.

An anchor is a text you click to move from one internet destination to another; it literally anchors two different locations on the internet together. 

While anchors typically link webpages, they can also initiate downloads and link to documents like PDFs or files in Google Drive. That is why you should only click anchors from sites you trust, and hover over the link with your mouse—but don’t click!—to make sure the URL looks legitimate. 

Here is an example:

Semrush is the all-in-one kit for digital marketing professionals.

In that sentence, the word “Semrush” is the anchor text. By hovering our mouse over the anchor, we can rest assured knowing it links to the Semrush homepage and not a mysterious malicious file. 

The text you choose for anchors is important for a few reasons:

  1. It tells your readers what to expect before they click the link. Anchor words are THE promise about what is on the other side of the link, so they must be highly relevant.

  2. It tells Google algorithms what your content is about. Google’s algorithms use your anchor choices to make sure you are not engaging in spammy practices AND to understand the topics you are linking to in your copy. 

Understanding Anchor Text HTML

Anchor text HTML is remarkably simple—this is the code we all learned to produce when we perfected our Angelfire sites and Myspace accounts back in middle school.

Here is what it looks like on the backend of WordPress in the text editor:


And when you click over to the visual editor, you can see how the link changes to ONLY display the anchor text on the frontend:


At this point, it is worthwhile to distinguish the difference between nofollow and follow links since this post is about anchors in the context of search engine optimization.

On the HTML side, the only difference is that a nofollow link contains an extra piece of code. In the example above, a nofollow link would look like this:

<a href="https://www.semrush.com/analytics/backlinks/"rel="nofollow">Backlink Analytics Tool </a>

In the eyes of the Google algorithms, however, that tiny piece of code makes an enormous difference.

  • Nofollow: Tells Google NOT to take the backlink into account when determining SEO value for either page. Since 1st March 2020 Google is starting to take nofollow links as a hint in determining a website’s position in SERP.

  • Sponsored: Tells Google that this link was obtained through some agreements between you and a publisher.

  • UGC (User Generated Content): Tells Google that the link (and the whole content) was placed on this page by users.

  • Follow: Tells Google to give credit to the page you’re linking to and take it into account when scanning your links.

The discussion of no-follow links is really more of a topic for backlinks, but it is worth considering when you choose your anchor words as well (we’ll explain some details further below in the best practices). 

How to Find Anchor Text with Semrush

If you’re looking for assistance with discovering what anchor texts are being used for your website, there are several ways to do so with Semrush. 

First, if you were to look at your website (or any specific webpage) on the Domain Overview Tool, you’ll find anchors being used. Let’s take a look at the Playstation 5 product page on their website through the tool: 

Screen Shot 2021-05-21 at 3.15.54 PM.png

The top anchors in Domain Overview pull from Backlink Analytics. So if you click “View details” you’ll be brought here: 

Screen Shot 2021-05-21 at 3.17.23 PM.png

Also, if you’re looking to set up a way to monitor your backlink portfolio, you can do so with Backlink Audit. Backlink Audit monitors your backlinks, and one way it does that is by checking your anchor text.

So, to check if you have any potentially dangerous anchor text, you can find it by opening your Backlink Audit campaign and going to the Audit tab. Then, use the anchors drop-down filter and select “money” and “compound.”


Now that we’ve covered how to find anchor text using Semrush, let’s dig deeper into anchor text. 

10 Types of Anchor Text and How They Work

Of course, when talking about search engine optimization and Google algorithms, “simple” isn’t in the vocab. In fact, Google identifies at least ten different types of anchor text. 

Here is a snapshot of the Semrush anchors:


Generic Anchor Words

A generic anchor doesn’t include any text referencing a keyword. Instead, the reader must rely on the surrounding copy for context clues about what is on the other side of the link.

Generic anchor text might seem spammy, but it is actually pretty powerful. Why? Well, it usually includes actionable language, a straightforward CTA, or draws direct attention to the link.

Generic Anchor Examples:

  • Click here

  • This blog

  • Read more

  • Download this

  • Over here

  • About the author

  • More info

  • This page


Branded Anchor Text

Branded anchors include your brand name, and they are great for building recognition. Plus, they are a safe bet to avoid getting flagged for spam. 

If you have public figures associated with your brand—such as a CEO, journalist, influencer, or prominent author—Google might also identify any links with their name as a branded anchor as well.

Ensure that you aren’t over-optimizing to the point of keyword-stuffing, though. It’s a fine line, but focusing on the brand name itself and avoiding tacking on additional keywords, cities, etc. is the way to go.

Branded Anchor Examples:

  • Bill Hartzer of BillHartzer.com

  • According to Reuters News Agency

  • Semrush

  • Julia McCoy says in The Write Blog

  • As CT News Junkie reports

Exact match anchor text includes the precise keyword the page you are linking to is targeting. If someone decided to link to this very blog post and chose to hyperlink with the words “anchor text,” we would earn an exact match link text because that is the keyword we are targeting here.

Similar to the above example, it’s best not to over-optimize and keyword stuff as it can result in a worse user experience.

Exact Match Anchor Examples:

  • Link building

  • Running shoes

  • B2B conversion rate optimization

  • Used books

(All examples above assume the link behind the text is targeting the exact phrase)

Partial Match Anchor Words

Partial match anchors include your keyword phrase along with other generic, random, or stop words.

Partial-Match Anchor Examples:

  • Useful SEO tools if you’re linking to a page targeting “SEO tools”

  • Buy running shoes here targeting “running shoes”

  • Informative keyword strategy guide targeting “keyword strategy”

Related anchor words link to a page using a variation of the target keyword. They are like partial match keywords, but related anchors don’t include the precise keyword phrase. 

You will want to build some related anchors to help Google’s crawlers better understand what your links are all about. Plus, they keep your link profile diverse so Google is less likely to hit you for spammy links.

Related Anchor Examples:

  • Yemen’s water crisis if you are linking to a page targeting “Yemen cholera epidemic”

  • Adidas Yeezy Boost targeting “buy running shoes”

  • Social media marketing targeting “Facebook content strategy”

Random Anchor Text

Some link analysis tools will toss random and generic anchors in the same category. However, random anchor words might also include phrases that aren’t quite as generic as “click here,” but they aren’t really related to the target keyword either.

Random Anchor Examples:

  • In-depth article

  • New style

  • The rules have changed

It is hard to pick examples for random anchors because they could be anything, and they are subjective depending on each page’s target keywords.

Naked anchor text is just a URL pasted into the copy from the browser bar—but it is clickable! You might see links like this if someone adds references at the bottom of their article and includes your link as a source. 

They aren’t pretty, but Google likes naked anchors because they are far less likely to imply someone is trying to use spammy practices to rank for a keyword.

Naked Anchor Examples:

  • https://www.mariehaynes.com/eat/

  • matthewwoodward.co.uk/seo/reporting/google-analytics-event-tracking/

  • www.adidas.com/us

Brand + Keyword Anchor Words

These include your brand name (or branded phrase) and a keyword. They can help you optimize for the keyword without looking spammy to Google AND build brand recognition at the same time.

Brand + Keyword Anchor Examples:

  • Semrush for keyword research

  • Running shoes at Adidas

  • Perfume at Ulta

Maybe you have heard that adding alt text to your image description is important? Well, your alt text for images is what Google reads as the image’s anchor (when said image is part of a link).

Image anchors are healthy because they diversify your anchor text profile. Plus, they can improve your SEO for Google images. You want to write descriptive alt text for the image link.

And perhaps most importantly, alt text provides an image description for those using screen readers—so be careful to make sure your alt text is concise and accurately describes the image in question!

Image Anchor Examples:

  • Affordable cat trees for apartments

  • Semrush link building strategy guide

  • LifeStraw travel accessories

Long-Tail Anchors

Long-tail anchors are similar to partial anchors, but they contain more words. These give you a chance to include your keyword along with some related, descriptive, generic, or branded keywords. 

Sometimes, long-tail anchors can include an entire subheading or headline for a link. Other times, writers will link to a whole sentence. While you don’t necessarily want to write long-tail anchors all the time, they can be useful for SEO. Plus, you can’t control what other sites do.

Long-Tail Anchor Examples:

  • Read more about keyword research on the Semrush blog

  • Why duplicate content is bad for SEO

  • Remember when Amazon was a used bookstore? 

How Does Anchor Text Affect SEO?

Google has always used anchor words to learn what web pages are about, so it can rank them for the right keywords. The original Google paper contains an entire section just for anchor text. Here is a snapshot:


According to Google, anchors provide more objective descriptions of a link than the pages can provide for themselves through metadata. Makes sense. Anchors for backlinks (should) come from neutral third-party sources.

Google says anchors also help the algorithm crawl pieces of content that don’t or can’t supply a copy on the internet for indexing. Such as:

  • Images

  • Programs

  • Apps

  • Databases

  • Documents

Anchor text used to play a heavy role in search engine rankings—a bit too much, in fact. 

An SEO History Lesson on Anchor Text

Before 2012, marketers used lots of exact match anchor keywords to manipulate the Google algorithm. In the early days, people tried including many keywords in one link or even hiding keywords in white text at the bottom of web pages in order to rank higher in the SERPs—it really was the Wild West out there!

By using keyword-rich anchors to point at your site, you could end up ranking in the first spot for keywords—even if your site wasn’t at all related to the anchor text topic.

If multiple sites chose the same anchor text to link to the same page, Google figured it must be related, so it should rank high!

Well, Google finally caught onto the deceptive practice and released the first of its Penguin updates in April of 2012, which cracked down on “black hat SEO,” including spammy anchor text. According to Google, 3.1% of sites were affected by this update.

So while it wasn’t a massive update, it did show SEOs that Google was taking seemingly small factors like anchor text into account.

How Many Exact Match Anchors Are Too Many?

Much like most other rules of SEO, there isn’t one perfect answer. It’s important to use anchor text that’s helpful for user experience so that the user knows what type of page they will end up on.

However, webmasters and marketers don’t always have control over backlinks; if another site links to yours, you may not have a say in the matter.

In short, Google still pays attention to anchor words and uses them to judge the content of your site, but if you are trying to manipulate the algorithm with anchors, you should expect Google to catch on. 

However, Google is always evolving and is now able to understand that many domain names contain keywords. Those are called exact match domains (EMDs). 

Keep in mind that Google deploys new algorithms and updates existing algos all the time. One day, you could wake up and Google could have updated to detect the difference between branded and exact match anchor text for EMDs. You just never know.

It is always best to keep your anchors relevant, avoid over-optimizing, and create a positive experience for Google users above all else.


How to Optimize Anchor Text for SEO

When we talk about optimizing anchor text here, we are talking about Google’s best practices—not gaming the algorithm in your favor. 

In October of 2019, Google released the BERT update, which uses natural language processing to understand and rank pages. What does this mean for anchors? We can’t be 100% sure because Google keeps its algorithms as tightly guarded as nuclear codes.

However, it could mean that Google pays closer attention to context clues around anchors now. Instead of reading simply the anchor text, Google’s crawlers might also scan and consider the surrounding words and sentences more so than they have in the past.

It also means Google prioritizes user experience and answering search queries more than anything else. So, that is what marketers should do.

And, that is why “optimizing” anchors involves creating a better experience for everyone.

Google cares about which sites you link to. If you link to a site that spreads false information, promotes hate, or engages in spammy practices, Google can penalize you. Even if a site has good intentions, the link can still end up hurting your ranking. 

It is called the co-citation principle. Removing hate-promoting sites from the equation, checking a site’s Alexa ranking, and only linking to sites with a score of 100k or less is a smart practice.

Now, Google also understands that sometimes you must link to “bad” sites as a reference. Maybe they are the only source or you need to debunk the information. In that case, you can use a nofollow link to tell Google “I don’t endorse this site and I don’t want it counted against my SEO.”

Make Sure Anchor Words Are Relevant

Relevancy is key. While too many over-optimized exact match anchors can potentially sound spammy, you also want your anchors to relate to the topic on the other side of the link.

Remember, Google uses anchors as information to learn what web pages are all about and how important they are so it can rank them in keyword searches appropriately. You definitely want to pick anchors that make sense for the link, and that will help create a positive experience for your readers.

If you start choosing random words for anchors just for the sake of diversity, it could end up qualifying as clickbait, and your readers won’t be happy.

Distribute Different Types of Anchor Text Wisely

Randomness is good when it comes to anchor text. You generally want to strive for:

  • 30% to 40% branded anchors

  • 30% to 40% partial match anchors

  • 20% to 40% generic, related, naked, random, exact match, and other anchors

Nothing is set in stone here; try checking out some of the top websites in your industry. See what their outgoing and incoming anchors look like so you can piece together an idea.

Pay Attention to Surrounding Text

Google’s recent BERT update taught us that the search engine is tweaking its strategy in favor of natural human language and the surrounding context.

When you read something online, you don’t ONLY look at the anchor text to decide whether you will click the link. You also read the surrounding sentences and paragraphs to understand what is on the other side of the hyperlink, right?

We should assume Google is doing that too. Most marketers don’t choose an entire sentence as their anchor. However, it might be worthwhile to consider that the Google bots will scan the words in the entire sentence as it scans our anchor text. 

On that note, you may also want to avoid using the same anchor words throughout an entire body of text—even if you are linking to different sites each time. Google may still consider this over-optimization and penalize you.

Don’t Neglect Your Image Alt Tags

Image ALT tags are critical for a few reasons. They:

  • Help visually impaired readers understand what an image is about

  • Tell the Google bots what an image is about

  • Function as anchor text

Image ALT tags should be highly descriptive and sound like a natural sentence. It used to be common practice to keyword stuff ALT tags, but Google quickly caught on, so keep your keywords to a minimum here. 

Choose one main keyword and incorporate it into a descriptive sentence about the specific image. 

Keep Guest Blogging

Some marketers have written off guest blogging as part of an anchor and link-building strategy. As usual, people were using their guest blogging bios to keyword stuff anchors and backlinks. 

While you certainly shouldn’t do that, you CAN still use guest blogging from highly relevant and authoritative websites to improve your anchors and overall SEO. 

Limit yourself to authoritative sites that relate to your niche. Google will surely notice if you are publishing on content farms it has already been flagged for spam a dozen times.

Final Thoughts

Anchor text is an important factor in your website’s SEO health. While anchor text is one of many Google ranking factors, it also tells your readers where they can find more information and what is on the other side of your links. 

When developing a link-building strategy, anchors can’t be an afterthought. 

It is your job as a marketer to pay careful attention to your types of anchor text, which words you choose, and even the surrounding words. As with most things SEO, diversity and moderation are key. Don’t keyword stuff, always diversify your types of anchor tags, and only link to highly relevant, reputable pages.

Author Photo
Julia McCoy is a content hacker (noun: growth-focused content marketer). She's the CEO of Express Writers, a content creation agency with over 19,500 successfully completed writing projects since 2011. She's also a bestselling author writing her fourth book, and an industry educator at The Content Hacker™. Read her Write Blog at https://www.expresswriters.com/write-blog and visit her new brand at https://www.contenthacker.com.