Anchor Text.

Anchor text is the clickable text portion of a hyperlink—the words that are underlined and coloured differently from surrounding text. Anchor text provides context to both users and search engines about what the linked page is about. A link with anchor text 'SEO reporting software' strongly signals to search engines that the linked page is relevant to that topic.

Types of Anchor Text

Anchor text types include: Exact match (the exact target keyword: 'SEO software'); Partial match (includes the keyword plus other words: 'best SEO software for agencies'); Branded (the brand name: 'Aergos'); Generic (non-descriptive: 'click here', 'read more'); Naked URL (the URL itself); and Image (Google uses the alt text of linked images as anchor text). A natural, diverse anchor text profile includes a mix of all types.

Anchor Text and Ranking Risk

Over-optimised anchor text—where a disproportionate percentage of backlinks use exact-match keyword anchors—was a primary target of Google's Penguin algorithm. Penalised sites saw significant ranking drops. A natural link profile has mostly branded and generic anchors, with a minority of keyword-relevant anchors. This is another reason that editorial, earned links are preferable to manipulative link building schemes.