What is anchor text Text with a link marked up with the href attribute (anchor tag) of the a element of the HTML tag.
Also called “link text”.
If you set this anchor text properly, you can expect good effect of SEO .
Poor anchor text, on the other hand, does not convey the content of the link to users and search engines.
In this case, penalties for keyword abuse and confusion due to inconsistencies with linked content make it difficult to evaluate.
This means that it will negatively affect your SEO.
To avoid such a bad situation , write the anchor text properly and specify the appropriate link destination.
Based on this point, this time, I would like to explain the points in an easy-to-understand manner for beginners, focusing on the definition of anchor text and how to write it effectively for SEO.
Table of Contents
What is Anchor Text?
What is anchor text text with a link marked up with the href attribute (anchor tag) of the a element of the HTML tag.
Also called “link text”.
| 1 | <a href=”/Anchor-Text/”>What is Anchor Text? Commentary on how to write effective for SEO! </a> |
If you mark up with the a element like this, a link will be added to the phrase “What is anchor text? Explanation of how to write effective for SEO!”
The wording with this link is the anchor text.
Also, in the href attribute, write the URL of the page to link to (the page URL that considers consistency with the anchor text).
Read Also: What is LPO? Basic points and examples of countermeasures!
The role of anchor text
The role of anchor text It tells users and search engines what the link is about.
- Tell users what the link is about
- Tell search engines what your link is about
Tell users what the link is about
Anchor text you can tell users what the link destination is about.
For example, let’s say that the title name of the linked page or the text of the main headline is “How to improve the ranking”.
In this case, the anchor text should also say, “How to rank higher.”
That way, when users see the anchor text, they can imagine what the content of the link is about.
As a result, user convenience will increase.
In this way, one of the roles of anchor text is to tell users what the link destination is about.
Tell search engines what your link is about
Anchor text you can also tell search engines what your link is about.
For example, let’s say that the title name of the linked page or the text of the main headline is “About SEO measures”.
In this case, the wording of the anchor text should also be “About SEO measures”.
And if the crawler crawls for that anchor text, it will be easier to understand the content of the link destination.
As a result, it will increase crawlability.
In this way, one of the roles of anchor text is to tell search engines what the link destination is about.
how to write anchor text
Well-written anchor text helps users and search engines understand what your link is about.
In order to create such a good situation, I will introduce how to write and create anchor text.
- match the content of the link
- be concise
- enter a keyword
- Add alt attributes to image links
match the content of the link
To match the anchor text and destination content, First, check the title name of the page to be linked to and the wording of the main heading.
For example, let’s say the title of the linked page is “About the effect of backlinks”.
In this case, the wording of the anchor text should also be “About the effect of the backlink”.
That way, the content of the link destination matches the wording of the anchor text.
In this way, matching the content of the link destination is the key to writing anchor text.
Also, the user clicks on the anchor text and lands on the landing page.
At this time, let’s display the same wording as the anchor text on the landing first view.
Be concise
To keep the anchor text concise, Consider shortening.
For example, let’s say the title of the page you’re linking to is “A very clear explanation of how to optimize your internal links”.
This title name can be summed up as “How to optimize your internal links”.
In other words, even the anchor text “how to optimize internal links” tells users and search engines what the link destination is about.
So, write the anchor text wording as “how to optimize internal links” and write it short.
Thus, brevity is the key to writing anchor text.
Enter a keyword
To include keywords in the anchor text, Consider SEO.
For example, let’s say the title name of the linked page is “Points for setting up WordPress”.
In this case, the keyword “wordpress settings” is important.
So, include this keyword in your anchor text.
That way, when the crawler crawls for that anchor text, it will also recognize the information for the keyword “wordpress settings”.
As a result, the importance in “WordPress Settings” increases, so it becomes easier to be indexed with that keyword (search query).
Thus, entering keywords is the key to writing anchor text.
Add alt attributes to image links
Add an alt attribute to the image link.
At this time consider usability and crawlability.
For example, let’s say you have an image of a dog barking.
In this case, write “barking dog” in the alt attribute.
| 1 | <img src=”dog.jpg” alt=”barking dog”> |
That way, the information in the alt attribute will have the same effect as the anchor text.
Specifically, in an environment where images are not displayed, alt attribute text can be displayed as link text.
In addition, accessibility is improved because it can be read aloud by a screen reader.
Additionally, you can tell the crawler about the image information.
Thus, writing alt attributes for image links is the key to writing anchor text.
By the way, sometimes the text around the image provides enough information about the image.
In this case, it seems that the alt and title attributes can be left blank, assuming that the purpose of the link is sufficiently explained.
Things to avoid when writing anchor text
Even if you write anchor text, it will backfire if the quality is poor.
To avoid this bad situation, avoid writing inappropriate anchor text.
- Make the content different from the link destination
- make it too long
- stuff keywords
- write the url
- too dispersed
Make the content different from the link destination
If the anchor text is different from the link destination, Users and crawlers get lost.
For example, if you click on the anchor text “How to use Search Console”, you want to jump to the “How to improve your content” page.
In this case, a user who clicks on the anchor text will jump to the linked page thinking it will give them information on how to use Search Console.
However, the user will land on a page with completely different information.
As a result, the user will bounce.
In addition, in the case of a crawler, the information of the anchor text of “How to use the search console” is crawled.
In this case, the crawler will assume that the linked page will have information on how to use Search Console.
However, if you crawl the information on the link, you will notice that there is information on “how to improve the content”.
If so, the anchor text and the content of the link destination will be different.
As a result, it will be perceived as a low quality link and will not be evaluated by Google.
This is the point you want to avoid when writing anchor text.
Make it too long
If you make the anchor text too long, It is difficult to convey to users and crawlers.
For example, write redundant anchor text that says, “I will teach you how to improve search rankings with SEO measures in 7 points in a concrete and easy-to-understand manner.”
In this case, when the user sees the anchor text, it takes time to interpret the content of the wording.
Worst case scenario, it could lead to a completely different interpretation.
If so, they are more likely not to click the link.
As a result, the conversion rate will decrease and user behavior will be adversely affected.
Also, when the crawler crawls the anchor text, it takes time to interpret the content of the wording.
Worst case scenario, it could lead to a completely different interpretation.
If so, it is more likely that you will interpret the content of the link destination differently. It may be perceived as a low quality link.
As a result, it will be perceived as a low quality link and will not be evaluated by Google.
As such, making it too long is a point you want to avoid when writing anchor text.
Stuff keywords
If you stuff keywords into the anchor text, You are more likely to get penalties.
For example, write anchor text like “[backlink] What is a backlink? [Let’s understand backlinks]”.
In this case, the word “backlink” is included unnecessarily and unnaturally.
In that case, it is more likely to violate Google guidelines as keyword stuffing or keyword abuse.
As a result, penalties will be imposed and it will be difficult to be evaluated.
Keyword stuffing is thus a point you want to avoid when writing anchor text.
Write the url
If you write the URL in the anchor text, I don’t understand the content of the link.
For example, write the URL anchor text like “https://infowikiz.com/Anchor-Text/”.
In this case, the content of the linked page cannot be understood from the wording of the anchor text.
This makes users more likely to shy away from clicking links.
As a result, the conversion rate will decrease and user behavior will be adversely affected.
Also, since the crawler doesn’t know the link destination information, it recognizes it as a low quality link.
As a result, it will be difficult to be evaluated by Google.
Thus, writing the URL is the point you want to avoid when writing the anchor text.
Too dispersed
If you scatter your anchor text too much, It may be interpreted differently from the content of the link destination.
For example, let’s say the title of the landing page is “How to optimize internal links”.
In this case, if you set up the anchor text “how to optimize internal links”, it will be easier for users and crawlers to understand because it will match exactly with the content of the link destination.
Additionally, write multiple similar anchor texts like “Let’s optimize internal linking”, “How to optimize internal linking?”, “Improve internal linking for SEO”.
In other words, increase the number of anchor text patterns and write them.
This increases the chances of writing different anchor text than the content of the link destination.
As a result, the number of anchor texts that are difficult to convey to users and crawlers will increase, so user behavior will deteriorate and it will be difficult to evaluate.
Thus, overspreading anchor text is a point you want to avoid when writing anchor text.
By the way, spreading anchor text is not a bad thing.
If you do spread out, write your anchor text with the highest priority on ensuring it matches the content of the link.
Check User Behavior with Tools to Find Low Quality Anchor Text
If user behavior is bad, One of the reasons is the poor quality of the anchor text.
For example, if you write anchor text for URLs, too long, etc., as described earlier in ” What to Avoid When Writing Anchor Text “.
If so, I don’t understand what you are linking to.
As a result, users are more likely to shy away from clicking links and search engines are more likely to perceive your links as low quality.
These bad situations can be checked from the tool.
- Google Analytics
- heat map
Google Analytics
in Google Analytics , Check the bounce rate of your landing page.
If the bounce rate is high, let’s check the bounce rate of users who stepped on the anchor text and flowed in.
If the user’s bounce rate is high, it may be due to low compatibility between the anchor text and the first view of the landing destination, or a server error that prevents browsing.
If there were no server errors, improving the anchor text to match the wording of the first view of the landing would improve user behavior.
Heat map
in the heatmap Check the redness of the anchor text part.
Warm colors such as yellow/orange/red are often clicked by users, while cool colors such as blue and green are not clicked.
In this case, change the wording of the anchor text in the cold part, delete the anchor text itself, change the text around the anchor text, etc.
This will lead to better user behavior.
Also, increasing the quality of anchor text in this way will reduce unnecessary crawls and improve crawlability.
Summary: Write your anchor text properly and point it to the appropriate destination.
Write your anchor text property please indicate the appropriate link.
To do this, make the anchor text concise and descriptive.
This will make it easier for users and crawlers to understand, leading to better user behavior and improved crawlability.
As a result, it will be easier to be evaluated by Google.
On the other hand, writing inappropriate anchor text leads to bad user behavior and poor crawlability.
As a result, it will be difficult to be evaluated by Google.
To avoid such a bad situation , write the anchor text properly and specify the appropriate link destination.