What is anchor text?
Anchor text is the visible text you click on in a hyperlink. It can be a word, a sentence or a company name, highlighted with a colour or underlining to show that it takes you on to another page. In other words, anchor text links two web pages together, but it does much more than just create a connection. It tells both users and search engines what to expect when they follow the link. That means the wording of your anchor text matters for both user experience and search engine optimisation (SEO).
Technically speaking, anchor text is the text that sits between the link tags in HTML:
Anchor textSo it's the text you see on the website that points to an internal or external page. When you work with digital content and SEO, it's worth understanding how search engines read this text and what role it plays in your overall link strategy.
How do you use anchor text?
You use anchor text to give meaning and context to your links. When you link from one page to another, you should word the text so it accurately describes the destination page. That helps both the reader and Google understand the connection. If, for example, you have an article on keyword research and you mention tools such as Google Search Console, you can create anchor text like “see keyword data in Google Search Console” instead of the generic “click here.” That way, you show what users get when they click — and at the same time, you strengthen the semantic link between the pages.
From a broader marketing perspective, many marketing teams work with anchor text as part of a long-term link building strategy. The goal is to create a relevant internal link structure and build external references that signal quality and coherence to Google's algorithms. When anchor text is planned alongside SEO and content marketing, a natural synergy emerges between editorial content and technical optimisation. That gives you both better visibility in the search results and more user-friendly navigation.
Why you should use anchor text
Anchor text has a dual function. It guides users where you want them to go, while telling search engines what the link is about. That makes it central to SEO work, because Google uses it as a signal when assessing how relevant a page is for a given keyword. When you vary your anchor text naturally, you can help your pages rank for different search phrases without risking over-optimisation.
From a strategic point of view, well-chosen anchor text also helps reduce bounce rate and increase engagement. Users click through more often when the link text is relevant to their information needs. In other words, your anchor text guides them on through the content, which strengthens the overall user journey. That applies to blog articles, whitepapers and product descriptions alike — short, clear and contextual links create coherence in your digital content.
What types and variants are there?
You can vary your anchor text in several ways. Variation is important because search engines prefer natural profile patterns. Here are the most common types:
- Exact match: The link text matches the keyword you're optimising for, e.g. “women's shoes”.
- Partial or phrase match: Contains the keyword as part of a longer phrase, such as “shoes for women”.
- Branded: Uses the company name or URL, e.g. “Amplify”.
- Generic: Non-specific text such as “read more” or “click here”, which should be used sparingly.
- LSI (Latent Semantic Indexing): Related words and synonyms that add linguistic variation.
- Long anchors: Longer, natural sentences that include keywords, such as “read how to optimise your anchor text correctly”.
A classic recommendation is to keep exact match links to a minimum. As a rule of thumb, you can let them make up a few per cent of your overall link profile and supplement them with branded and phrase-based variants. That creates a natural link pattern that both users and algorithms perceive as trustworthy.
How do you use anchor text in practice?
In practice, working with anchor text is about analysis, measurement and ongoing adjustment. You can use tools such as Google Search Console to see which texts are most often used to link to your website. This gives you insight into which words external sites associate with your brand and your topics. If you work with link building in more depth, a tool like Ahrefs can help you see the distribution of different anchor text types and identify overrepresentation of particular keywords.
Internally, you can set up a spreadsheet where you note which types of anchor text you've used for different pages. That gives you an overview, so you can make sure the link structure follows your content strategy. When you combine this with analysis of SEO data and perhaps input from your SEM work, you get a complete picture of how organic and paid channels support each other in your digital strategy.
What should you watch out for?
You should avoid using the same anchor text too many times, especially in external links. Uniform links can make search engines suspect manipulative link building. So make sure you vary them, and let the wording of each anchor text fit naturally into the context. At the same time, you should avoid empty or misleading wording such as “click here”. It adds no context and reduces the value of the link — both for the user and for Google.
Finally, remember that quality trumps quantity. A single relevant link with good, descriptive anchor text can be worth far more than a hundred ill-considered links. When you take an integrated approach to SEO, content marketing and branding, anchor text is therefore key to connecting user-friendly content with a strong technical structure. That gives you better visibility in searches and a more coherent digital experience for your visitors.
