The Importance of Anchor Text in Link Building

Imagine you are browsing the web, and you come across a link that says, “Click here.” Would you click on it? Probably not. At least not unless there is context provided. This is because you will have no idea what the link is about, where it will take you, or why you should care.

On the other hand, imagine that another link to the same website says, “Learn how to rank higher on Google.” That sounds more interesting. You clearly know what the link is about, where it will take you, and why you should care.

Both scenarios demonstrate the power of anchor texts in link building and SEO. To effectively build high-quality backlinks, you must understand how to write the perfect anchor texts. And that’s what this article will teach you.

Why the Anchor Text is Important

The anchor text plays a crucial role in linking one webpage to another. It provides context about the linked page’s content and relevancy to the target keyword. 

Thus, it is an important ranking factor for SEO link-building.

The anchor text, the surrounding text, and the content in the backlink have a clear relevance relationship if a link is described as ‘high-quality.’ So, it gives both human readers and search engines an idea of the link’s content.

Before clicking on the link, each user knows what to expect. That is why anchor link optimization is such a big deal. If you use the wrong anchor text, users may feel misled, and your website may appear spammy.

This would lead to a poor user experience and increase the bounce rates on your website. On the other hand, links with relevant and descriptive anchor text can pass more authority and link juice to the linked page.

Spammers and other unethical SEO professionals are mostly fond of jumbling up everything in a haphazard manner. Besides the fact that this could lead to Google penalties, it is also a futile effort since, sooner or later, your ranking would be negatively affected, and you will have to go back to square one.

Types of Anchor Texts

There are different types of anchor texts depending on content and keywords. In broad terms, here are some of the types:

• Exact match: when the anchor text uses the keyword phrase as the hyperlink text. An example will be if a website uses “The Importance of Anchor Text in Link Building” as an anchor text when linking to this article.
• Partial match: using a variation of the keyword phrase. Commonly used when you are targeting multiple keywords, trying to avoid keyword stuffing, or trying to reference a specific part of the article.
• Branded: this occurs when the anchor text uses the brand name in the hyperlink. For example, if “Eye10” appears within an anchor.
• Generic: these are cliche phrases such as “click here” or “read more.”
• Naked: there are also naked anchor texts when a URL is used directly as an anchor, such as ‘www.forbes.com.’ This is often not advised because, particularly when the URL is long, it might be difficult for users to immediately know what the link is all about from a naked anchor.
• Image link: when you hyperlink an image and make it a clickable element, that image becomes the anchor for that link.

Optimizing Anchor Text for SEO

There are important best practices to follow to create natural and diverse anchor texts that benefit both search engines and users. The following are some tips you have to keep in mind in this case:

a. Choose the right keywords

Not all keywords are created the same. Keywords have varying levels of difficulty, competition, CPC, relevance, and specificity. However, a tool like the Eye10 Keyword Planner will give you insights into various available keywords. Then you can select the ones that best match the user intent and content of the link page.

b. Use links only where relevant

Even though link building is an excellent SEO tactic, link spamming can easily penalize you if you are not careful. The goal is not to fill your content with backlinks but to have relevant backlinks to high-authority sources.

So, if you create useful, engaging, and valuable content, you can link to sources of original insights, data, examples, case studies, etc.

Don’t just add links because you can. Add links with a purpose; right from the anchor text, the reader should know what to expect. Don’t use the anchor text “SEO” to link to an article about paid ads. It’s not relevant.

c. Keep the anchor text natural

This is another area where many people might fail. Keyword stuffing, over-optimization, and even using too many generic anchors can harm your SEO and the user experience of your visitors.

If you have to use the same keyword in multiple instances, vary the entries by using synonyms, modifiers, and phrases that make sense in the link’s context. By all means, avoid using the same anchor text for every link or try to manipulate search engines with unnatural anchors. Essentially, the anchor texts should fit into the surrounding text organically.

d. Monitor and track your anchor text profile

This helps you avoid over-optimization issues or an unintentional attempt to manipulate search engines. If you identify that a certain anchor text is being overused, that’s your cue to make the required changes before it affects your rankings negatively.

You can use the Eye10 Backlink Checker tool to monitor your backlinks as well as the anchor texts of each of the backlinks. If you publish content frequently, you could make this check weekly or every few days to ensure that you remain within the best standards.

Conclusion

Understanding the importance of anchor text and following best practices for anchor text optimization can help you maximize the benefits of link-building and improve your search engine rankings.

When you combine these benefits with Eye10 SEO tools, including the Backlink Checker, Backlink Monitor, and the Keyword Planner tool, the results of your efforts are maximized. Eye10 takes much of the stress out of your SEO struggles by providing real-time data and insights. Sign up here today to get started on this new experience.