Anchor Text

Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. Search engines use anchor text to understand what the linked page is about, making it an important signal for relevance. Types of anchor text include: exact match (uses the target keyword), partial match (includes the target keyword with additional words), branded (uses the brand name), generic (uses phrases like "click here" or "learn more"), naked URL (uses the raw URL), and image (the image alt text serves as anchor text). A natural backlink profile contains a diverse mix of anchor text types. Over-optimization (too many exact match anchors) can trigger Google penalties. For internal links, use descriptive anchor text that helps both users and search engines understand the destination page.