Anchor text is the visible, clickable text of a hyperlink. Search engines use anchor text as a signal to understand what the linked page is about. Natural anchor text profiles include a mix of branded, exact-match, partial-match, and generic text.
Why Anchor Text matters for SEO
Over-optimized anchor text (too many exact-match keyword links) can trigger Google's Penguin algorithm and result in penalties. Natural anchor text profiles include your brand name, URL, generic phrases ('click here'), and relevant keyword variations.
Related terms
BacklinkAnchor text is the visible text portion of a backlinkInternal LinkingUse descriptive anchor text for internal links instead of 'click here'
CrawlRaven audits your internal link anchor text to ensure it's descriptive and varied, not over-optimized or generic.
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