How does anchor text work




















Random anchors are those which contain unspecific or generic phrases. They do not contain the target keyword or any elements of it. This makes sense because random anchors incorporate pretty much all other anchors besides a few very specific ones. You can see that the histogram seems to be leaning neither left nor right for this one.

That means that the correlation tends towards the middle value—which is zero. In other words, if the actual anchor text happens to be random and unrelated to the linked page, Google may look at the surrounding link text to help understand what the page is about.

You can see how that might work with the example depicted in the screenshot above. We took the same set of keywords from study 1 but included only pages with random anchors—i. To minimize bias, we further reduced our sample to 16K pages— in each position 1— This was to ensure that any correlations were based on the same number of pages for each ranking position.

Result: having the exact-match keyword in the surrounding link text appears to have no notable effect on rankings. This time we took a look at the correlation between the occurrence of all terms from the target keyword and rankings—i. Result: there is almost zero correlation between rankings and the occurrence of all words from the query in the surrounding link text. Finally, we looked at the correlation between rankings and the occurrence of at least one term from the target query in the surrounding link text.

Say that we wanted to know how many backlinks with exact-match anchors there are to our guide to finding email addresses. Firstly , while we can easily do that for this page because we know the main target keyword, how are we supposed to do the same thing, at scale, for , web pages?

Secondly , our sample of , webpages came from looking at the top 20 ranking pages for 19, keywords. However, all of those keywords matched a set of initial criteria, one of which was a monthly search volume between 2, and 5, We studied 3 million random search queries and found that, on average, the top 10 ranking pages also rank for between and 1, other queries. But why is this the case anyway? Because of this, pages that rank for their target keyword also tend to rank for a bunch of long-tail variations, which, when combined, are often responsible for the vast majority of traffic to the page.

Exact-match anchors can only target one keyword by definition, and in , ranking for one keyword is not what SEO is all about, and nor should it be your primary goal. Having said that, some of you may have spotted a possible flaw in this argument. Or to be more accurate: a counter-argument. It would be much easier to do some on-page SEO and optimize for topically-related keywords i.

Building links with keyword-rich anchors is risky. I think we all know that someone naturally linking to your page using the exact target keyword as the anchor is a rare occurrence. Which brings me to a related point:. Any potential flaws aside, the results of our study indicate that anchor text plays a rather insignificant role when it comes to ranking in Anchor text is a complex topic. Many people in the industry continue to swear by higher-than-average exact-match anchors, whereas others—like myself—tend to think these things are better kept on the safe side.

Some people even analyze the anchor text ratios of the current top ranking pages for their target keyword and base their own anchor text ratios on the findings. You have no control over the anchor text used with almost all legitimate white-hat link building strategies. In fact, guest blogging is the only strategy that comes to mind where you get to choose the anchor text of your links—and you should probably use branded links there, at least for author bios.

Joshua Hardwick. Article stats Monthly traffic Linking websites Tweets When there are too many keywords on a page linking to too many other pages of a website, or all to the same page but with different anchor texts, you have a case of excessive anchor text. The excessive use of anchor text within your website can lead to Google penalties as it is considered a spammy, user-unfriendly practice. Because link builders are actively building links to their website with targeted anchor text, particular keywords will have a higher share of a page's overall anchor text distribution.

A spammy anchor text is a link with an anchor text that has no relationship to the page it exists on or the page it is linking to. Spammy anchor texts are a common black hat SEO tactics to either temporarily rank for competitive keywords such as "pay day loans" or "buy viagra" but can also be used as a tool to harm a competitor's website or individual through negative SEO and Google bombing.

When web surfers link to your website, it is inevitable that you will get bad anchor text that does not help identify your web page's topic.

However, just like naked URLs, these are natural occurances, and are not frowned upon by search engines. On the flip side, the lack of naked URLs, the excessive use of anchor text, and or a high number of targeted one-way anchor text backlinks are all signs of unnatural anchor text distribution. Search engines like Google may penalize websites that focus on manipulating anchor text when user experience is compromised. To obtain natural anchor text links to your website, create good content and the links and anchor text should come naturally.

Our software and services help businesses and agencies take the guesswork out of pay-per-click advertising so you get more from your marketing budget. What Is Anchor Text? Anchor Text Definition Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. Bad anchor text example : Click here! Good anchor text examples : anchor text , anchor text definition , learn about anchor text The anchor text is also known as the link label or link title. Exact Match Anchor Text An exact match anchor text has the same keywords highlighted as the targeted keyword of a web page.

The only difference is that instead of using the exact phrasing of the keyword, a variation is used. Such as:. Website names and branded anchor texts are fairly common. For instance, I can use HubSpot's Blog as my link label if I wanted to refer to this blog's homepage. See what I did there?

Easily one of the most recognizable anchor texts. These are usually used for ads and CTA buttons. Typical generic anchor text includes phrases like "click here", "read more", or "buy now". As the saying goes, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. Fortunately, it can also be used as an anchor. Don't forget to include a descriptive text to your image because search engines use it to understand what the image is about.

Merely getting familiar with the different types of anchor text won't guarantee you higher SERP rankings. Here are some best practices for optimizing your anchor text to get you started. Many platforms offer various webpage customizations. Some of these blend the anchor with the surrounding text.

Make sure users know the anchor is clearly marked and it's clickable. While most try to approach this task strategically and concentrate on exact and phrase matches, natural language does not work this way.

Remember to consider the reader's search intent and confirm it matches the context of your content. It goes without saying that keyword stuffing will incur the wrath of the Penguin update , which penalizes over-optimized anchor texts and low-quality hyperlinks. A natural link profile has variety. Excessive link label manipulation will get your webpage penalized. Although Google looks at both the anchor and the surrounding text, don't anchor large chunks of text.

Having a library of all your links and labels not only helps during the optimization process, but also when doing site audits. So, what now? The best way forward is to create an optimization strategy which makes sense for both your customers and your business. Originally published May 24, AM, updated May 24 Logo - Full Color. Contact Sales. Overview of all products. Marketing Hub Marketing automation software.

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