What Is Anchor Text?
Anchor Text is the text on a website that has been hyperlinked to another site or page. Just the same as in a word document you select the text to hyperlink, on a website you do the same.
The difference with Anchor Text on a website though is that the words that are linked matter far more than you might think or know.
Instead of just hyperlinking a “click here” or “read more” for the user’s sake, anchor text is used to assist Google in learning what sites are about.
For example, say I hyperlink the words “red balloons” to the website warehousestore.com – I am helping Google learn that warehousestore.com sells red balloons and should appear for results similar to that.
Consequently, Anchor Text is CRUCIAL to your SEO efforts and it should be treated that way.
Three Kinds Of Anchor Text
Although Anchor Text has that inherent value of identifying what sites might sell or be about – there is more to it than that. There are three kinds of Anchor Text; Branded, Term, Generic.
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The Magic Ratio
There has been some debate around what is the most valuable breakdown of anchor text. Whether a company should have very little branded and go all in on term based, or whether a relatively even split is the goal.
Well, after having worked on the SEO side of an almost endless number of sites – we found the ratio we like to use. 50% Term Based in order to rank for the keywords we target, 25% Branded to build our business name, and 25% Generic in order to have a realistic profile.
Now as much as we believe this is a general rule for success – it is not the only way to do it nor will it always be the best way. Certain businesses will need less Generic anchors and maybe far more branded due to the space they play in. But if you are ever unsure, 50/25/25 is your goal.
The Battle Of The Anchor Text Position
What surprises a lot of businesses, is that it is not just the words you say – it is the context you say them in that matters. This graphic above, is the breakdown of what matters most when it comes to position.
What should be obvious is that contextual links are the name of the game. Whenever possible, that’s where your anchor text should be. The value from having your link within a paragraph of an article is immeasurably larger than having it anywhere else.
Now if you can get that contextual link to be above the fold (not sure what above the fold means? Read about it here!) – you have the jackpot. Contextual anchor text, that is above the fold – are the end goal of any link building that you do
Summary
Well, there you have it – you now know the three types of anchor text, what ratio you need and where to put them. With that, you are an anchor text genius. Now if you want some context on the backlinks your anchor text will be attached to, we wrote the full guide to What Are Backlinks & How To Get Them.
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