What is an anchor in a link, and how does it impact SEO?

Your link building strategy should start with the anchor text you use in your links. Many people don’t consider anchor text when doing link building, and this oversight can cost them in the long run, as well as their clients. This article will help you understand how to use anchor text effectively in your link building efforts so that you can achieve the best results for your clients and yourself.

What is anchor text?

Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. It is the most important factor in determining both what a search engine will display in its search results and where a webpage will rank in those results. That’s why anchor text is such an important part of any link building strategy.

Search engines use the text that appears next to a hyperlink as a way of understanding the context of that link and deciding how relevant it is to a given search query. There are many factors that go into choosing good anchor text, but at the top of the list should be keywords or phrases that you want your site’s pages to rank for.

Types of anchors

There are several of the most commonly used anchors, including:

1. Brand – text that uses the name of the company or brand, with no relation to the selected keywords, its purpose is to build the value of authority on the web (affects the Domain Authority = commercial indicator of the strength of a given domain).
2. Generic – it is not related to the content of the page, but is connected with the content that precedes it, it is usually a call to action (CTA).
3. Naked – no actual anchoring in this case, so the user is presented with a raw link.
4. Exact match – it is based on the use of an exactly matched keyword, which constitutes the positioning force. However, this is a risky anchor that works differently depending on word popularity and algorithm updates.
5. Partially matched – the main part of the anchored text only partially applies to the keyword, choosing synonyms in their place.
6. Matched to the phrase match – this is an anchor between an exact and a partial match.
7. Image (Alt Tag) – the graphic itself does not have a tag and therefore it is not possible to add an anchor text, but you can use the alt attribute instead, which works on the same principle.

The importance of the anchor in link building strategy

It is one of the most important factors in determining the value that a link will pass to your website. Speaking of SEO, anchors are especially useful in the context of website quality evaluation by search engine robots. They help them find their place in the structure of the website, understand its content, and therefore are also a form of positioning with the use of keywords. The right anchor can also be an incentive for the user to use the website. Anchor text helps rank pages higher and with more prominence in the SERPs.

The Penguin Algorithm

Penguin is an algorithm used by Google to catch sites that are spamming their way to the top of the SERPs. One of the main ways they do this is by looking at the anchor text being used to link to a site. If all of the links pointing to a site have the same anchor text, it’s a pretty good indication that something fishy is going on. So, what does this mean for SEO? It means that when you’re building your link building strategy, you should make sure to include a variety of anchor texts with each link.

Practical tips for text anchor

Using the anchor’s potential can greatly benefit external linking, especially in terms of the evaluation of search engine robots. However, there are a few things to keep in mind.

• Anchor has an impact on the look of the website and the user experience. For this reason, you should place it in the right places and watch the quantity so that the entire text is natural and does not discourage the reader.
• Anchored text must not be too general, otherwise it becomes unreadable. Adjust it to the substantive value of the content.
• Be careful not to accidentally put the period at the end of the sentence in your anchor.
• Research suggests that anchored text should not be longer than 60 characters.
• Do not put a generic anchor too often, it’s better to put it in front of the link, and include the keyword related to the linked subpage in the content.
• Do not use the same anchor for different texts, this will result in cannibalization of keywords and a decrease in the quality of the page.
• Do not link the same texts to one url, you will have a problem with the First Link Count principle that search engine robots are suggesting.
• Try to use different types of anchored texts, otherwise the whole thing will look unnatural.
• When applying anchor text, choose different sources for one text, otherwise the algorithm may evaluate your choice negatively as favoring one site. Attractive texts can help improve the traffic on your website, so choose them carefully.
• Make sure each anchor is clickable. It’s easy to make a mistake here.

Conclusion

In conclusion, anchor text is a key component of any effective link building strategy. By using the right keywords and phrases, you can ensure that your links are high quality and relevant to your audience. When used correctly, anchor text can be a powerful tool for increasing traffic and improving your search engine ranking. When used incorrectly, it can negatively impact both your traffic and rank. That’s why it’s important to learn how to use it effectively as part of an overall SEO strategy.