What is an anchor text?
Simply put, an anchor text is a clickable line of text—usually coloured blue—that marks a hyperlink, which either opens a file or takes the user to a specific location when clicked. This location could be a web page, a section in a document, or a specific slide in a slideshow.
If you wish to learn more about this topic, check out the FAQ section below:
Question #1: How do I create an anchor text?
You can create an anchor text in a variety of ways, depending on the platform you are using.
If you are doing manual HTML coding, for example, you will have to use the <a> tag with the href attribute, as in: <a href=“www.google.com”>Find your answers here!</a>. This line of code would return: Find your answers here!
Don’t know how to code? Don’t worry. A lot of apps allow you to create anchor texts with the click of a button.
In Microsoft Office apps and Google Docs, for instance, all you have to do is highlight whatever line of text you want to use as anchor text, press ctrl+K (or cmd+K on Macs) or click on the hyperlink button, and type in the URL of the web page or file you want the hyperlink to lead to.
Question #2: Are there rules for creating an anchor text?
Technically, there are no rules for creating an anchor text—unless you are doing it for SEO purposes, which we will talk about in the following section. All you really have to do is make sure that your anchor text is descriptive enough so it gives the user an idea of where it leads.
Examples would be:
- Studies show that the proper use of anchor texts leads to a 73% increase in conversions.
- Get your free copy of the guide today!
- Get in touch with us today to get started!
In the first example, it is clear that the hyperlink leads to a study that supports the claim. In the second one, it is clear that clicking on the hyperlink would either open a copy of the guide or allow the user to download it. In the final example, it is clear that the hyperlink would take the user to the website’s contact us page.
Question #3: Does using it affect SEO?
Yes. Using anchor text can affect SEO either negatively or positively, depending on how you do it. But before we talk about how you can use anchor texts to improve your website’s SEO, let us first take a look at the two types of anchor texts at your disposal.
The first type is called call-to-action (CTA) anchor text. Examples of this would be:
- Click Here
- Join Now
- Sign Up Today
The second type is called rich anchor text. This is the type you want to use for SEO purposes because it uses targeted keywords instead of just regular descriptive text. Examples of this would be:
- You no longer need a gym membership to get fit. It is now easier than ever to get fitness equipment for your home.
- Email marketing has never been so easy, thanks to the wide array of email automation apps at your disposal.
- These days, you no longer need to spend a fortune to shoot high-quality videos. Even affordable mid-range smartphones come with cameras that can compete with expensive DSLRs.
Writing your anchor texts this way allows you to make your web pages seem more relevant to a specific topic or niche to Google and other search engines, putting you in a better position to rank higher in search results.
Just make sure you only use keywords that are relevant to the niche you are targeting and you do not overdo it. Otherwise, you will not only attract the wrong traffic, but you might also get penalised by Google for keyword stuffing.
Fortunately, there are a lot of SEO tools and plugins you can use to ensure you are doing everything correctly.