Anchor text

What it means

Anchor text is the clickable text of a link, the words a reader sees underlined or highlighted. For the reader it is a promise of what they will find after clicking; for search engines it is one of the signals of what the target page is about and which keywords it may be relevant for.

There are several types: exact match with a keyword, partial match, brand name, bare URL or generic phrases such as “read more here”. A natural link profile contains a mix of all of them, because that is how people write when they link to something without intending to manipulate.

With internal linking a site controls its anchor text completely. With backlinks from other sites it usually does not, and that is where search engines watch most closely for artificially bought links with identical text.

How it works in practice

In our glossary, anchor text is part of the sentence and inflects with it: a link to the tax return may read “in the tax return” or “after filing the return”. It looks natural, and search engines still understand which concept is meant because they recognise word forms.

When writing content we recommend avoiding text such as “click here” or “here”. It tells nothing to a reader who only skims the page, or to a screen reader for blind users, which often reads links on their own. A descriptive anchor improves accessibility and SEO at the same time.

It is good to link to one target page with different phrasings that fit the context. A page about VAT can receive links reading “value added tax”, “VAT” and “VAT registration”, which together cover more of the ways people search for the topic.

What to watch out for

On other sites it is dangerous to buy or swap links that all use the same exact keyword. Search engines recognise this as manipulation, and instead of rising the site can lose rankings. What works long term is content that others link to of their own accord because it is useful to them.

The second mistake is misleading anchor text that promises something other than what the page contains, such as “price list” leading to a contact form. The reader quickly returns, which worsens satisfaction signals, and loses trust in the site’s other links too.