Understanding Anchor Text: A Guide for Better Linking

There isn't only one type of anchor text. In fact there are a number of anchor texts you need to understand, helping you identify the best for your content strategy:

• Exact match – includes the keyword mirroring the title of the page
• Partial match – a keyword variation to the linked page
• Branded text – uses brand names or key phrases, tying the anchor text to the brand 
• Natural text – Flows naturally, but does not contain keywords
• Generic text – non-descriptive that don't relate to content or keywords
• Naked links – anchor text is the URL of the page being linked to, we don't recommend this and users are not enticed by them.

The Importance of Optimising Your Anchor Text

With the right anchor text, you can improve your page relevance, boosting authority and rankings. Internal links, along with backlinks are important to user experience (UX). Yet they can cause damage if not use correctly and effectively.

Misusing or failing to optimise your anchor text can result in penalties, which will have a serious negative impact on your online presence and success. 

Anchor Text Best Practices

How do you create an anchor text that provides search engines with context of your content, while encouraging users to click on the link to discover more?

Descriptive Keywords

Using your target keywords in anchor text is essential. Descriptive and keyword rich anchor text helps to spark interest with your readers, guiding them through your website seamlessly, boosting engagement and reducing bounce rates.

Ensure you balance your keyword relevance with user intent, improving your SEO performance, while creating an intuitive user experience.

User Experience (UX)

Anchor text improves user experience (UX). When your anchor text is well-crafted, it guides your visitors through your website seamlessly, making the experience intuitive. Anchor text should provide value, be informative and relevant to the content it is linking to. This helps improve user engagement, builds trust, and encourages visitors to explore your website further.

Relevance

Anchor text should always be relevance to retain your visitors trust. When you provide misleading anchor text, you will experience high bounce rates, negatively impacting your ranking and credibility. 

Monitor

At Genie Crawl, we recommend you regularly monitor and review your SEO metrics, identifying which anchor text is working best on your website. You can use online tools, such as Google Analytics to see how anchor text is performing in terms of click through rates and ranking.

Also keep an eye out for broken links, which can easily be avoided. Broken links is a common SEO issue that leads to poor user experience, while negatively impacting your SEO efforts.

Conclusion

Anchor text is a small portion of an effective SEO strategy that can improve rankings and user experience. Genie Crawl offers tailored SEO strategies that align with your audiences needs and your business goals. Contact us today for a free evaluation and quote.