An Anchor Text is a clickable text or characters that hyperlink to other documents or links on the internet. They are identifiable with the blue, underlined combinations of words in website articles. When users click on this link, they are directed to another page on the same site, or to a different website. This text plays a vital role in SEO practices because they can be used to locate backlinks. Additionally, search engines use these texts to understand what the content is about and give it a “vote of confidence”.
Anchor Text can improve a website’s rankings when used correctly. The most important part of it is the relevancy. The more relevant it is to content, the better a page will perform while appearing on top of search results. Besides, the hyperlink that the text represents should be reliable. It is not a beneficial strategy to link to spammy websites just for reciprocity. Also, it is advisable not to use too many keyword-rich anchors. Keywords are essential to boost rankings, but too many of them can decrease the use of the content. This process is called over-optimization, which search engines do not value. To avoid this, specialists need to track the anchors. For instance, inputting all keywords in Excel Spreadsheet ensures that people do not use one keyword repeatedly. Lastly, using different types of anchors will be more effective.
As mentioned before, people need to distribute anchors over different types. There are several of them, including Generic, Branded, LSI, or Exact match. An example of a Generic anchor can be ‘click here’ or ‘ click to buy.’ Moreover, Branded type includes the brand name in the text.
LSI anchor texts are the variations of the main keywords. If the main word is ‘Clothing Shop,’ the LSI can be ‘Clothing Store’ or ‘Clothing Online.’ On the other hand, the Exact Match type uses the primary keyword as an anchor. While it may be more useful for ranking, overusing them can bring penalties, too.
We have developed search strategies for leading brands to small and medium sized businesses across many industries in the US and worldwide.