What is anchor text, who cares about it and what role does it play in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Anchor text is a keyword or key phrase used on a web page that labels a hyperlink to another web page. For instance, in the sentence “Billy went fishing and used trout bait to catch bass” the anchor text used is trout bait and it is linked to the homepage of Bass Pro Shop. Anchor text replaces a regular link such as www.basspro.com with a more descriptive keyword link. If you use anchor text, it helps give the reader a better idea as to what they’ll find on the web page that the link-links to. Anchor texts such as website hosting may or may not help you in the search engines, but adding the name of your business will help brand you.
*Make sure your anchor text accurately describes the information on the web page that it links to.
The above example of an anchor text link was used within a sentence; it is a contextual link. Contextual links are links that show up within a sentence or paragraph on a web page. You can also use anchor text without surrounding it with words e.g. Government Housing, but the most effective way to use anchor text is to surround it with related text. Keep in mind that putting an anchor text link for trout bait on a web page about government housing will not be as effective as putting the trout bait link on a web page about fishing.
Why the hell should I care what an anchor text link is? I’m trying to optimize my site and am interested in building quality backlinks.
Building quality back links to your site is important and anchor text makes those links more valuable. In the same way that anchor text tells the reader what to expect on the next web page, it tells the search engines what the web page is about and helps them classify it.
Think of it like this, If I tell you that I like Suzi, that’s great, that’s a vote for Suzi, but what the F does Suzi do? Now if I told you that I like Suzi because she’s a great chef, you would know that I think Suzi is a great chef. Anchor text tells search engines what information is on your web page and will help give your page more authority for a keyword.
Example of Anchor Text
Link Code - <a href=”http://www.yourwebpage.com”>Example</a>
Looks like - Example
Link Code - This is an <a href=”http://www.yourwebpage.com”>example</a> of what the code for an anchor text link looks like.
Looks like - This is an example of what the code for an anchor text link looks like.
