How to write better anchor texts, with examples

An anchor text is the visible, clickable text of a link. Good anchor text tells your readers and search engines what they'll find when they click, in a few words that fit the sentence. "Click here" is a weak example of anchor text, while "coffee beans from Bolivia" tells readers exactly where the link leads.

Throughout this guide, you run a small coffee roastery at yourcoffeeroastery.co.uk, with a blog about coffee and an online shop for your beans.

What is anchor text?

In the code of a page, a link has two parts. The address of the page it leads to comes after href=. The anchor text sits between the opening <a> and the closing </a> tag. Google calls these words "link text". On your roastery's blog, a link to your Bolivian beans looks like this:

<a href="https://www.yourcoffeeroastery.co.uk/bolivian-coffee-beans/">coffee beans from Bolivia</a>

People call the whole link, the address and the words together, a hyperlink. The anchor text is only the part your readers see.

Why anchor text matters for SEO

The words of a link help Google understand what the page you link to is about. When your blog post links to your Bolivian beans with the words "coffee beans from Bolivia", Google learns what that product page sells. Your readers know what the page holds before they click, too.

Links are also one of the ways Google finds new pages, so make sure each page that matters to you gets a link from another page of your site. Checking the anchor text on every page you write is a part of the search engine optimisation of your website you can do yourself.

Anchor text examples

The examples of anchor text below all link pages of your roastery, and each type suits a different kind of link.

Generic anchor text

Generic anchor text uses vague words instead of naming the page, such as "click here", "this page", "read this" or "visit this page". None of these says what's behind the link, so a "click here" link on your roastery's blog doesn't indicate where it goes.

Naked URL

A naked URL uses the page's address as its anchor text, such as https://www.yourcoffeeroastery.co.uk/shop/. The URL shows readers where they'll land, but it's long and hard to read in the middle of a sentence. Use naked URLs where readers expect to see an address, such as a list of sources at the bottom of a page.

Branded anchor text

Branded anchor text is the name of a brand or company. When a local food blog writes about your roastery, it might link to you with your shop's name. Do the same when you link to a well-known source, such as a newspaper or a scientific journal, and name it in the anchor.

Brand and keyword

This type adds what the brand sells to its name, such as your shop's name followed by "Bolivian beans". The anchor tells readers who and what they'll find, which suits a link to one of your product pages.

Exact match anchor text

An exact match anchor text is the search term the linked page wants to rank for, word for word. In a blog post about coffee plantations in different countries, you could link the words "coffee beans from Bolivia" to the product page that sells them. Use it now and then, and vary the words on other links to the same page. The same phrase on every link reads stiffly, and a mix of words describes the page just as well.

Partial match anchor text

Partial match anchor text uses the search term with other words around it or in a different order. In the same blog post, that could be "single-origin coffee beans from Bolivia's Yungas region". Use it where an exact match would sound stiff in your sentence.

Related keyword anchor text

A related keyword anchor uses words that belong to the topic without the search term itself. For example, you could link the words "this week's South American brew" to the Bolivian beans. It suits a page you mention in many posts, because the link doesn't repeat the same words each time.

Image alt text as anchor text

An image used as a link is an image anchor, and its alt text works as the anchor text. Take a photo of your Bolivian beans that links to their product page. An alt text like "a bag of single-origin Bolivian beans" then does the job a text anchor would. That same alt text also describes the photo to people who use a screen reader, so never leave it empty on a linked image. Our article What is alt text explains how to write it.

How to write good anchor text

Make the linked words say where the link goes, even when someone reads them on their own. To test it, read only the linked words. If they don't tell you what the page is about, make them more specific.

Keep the anchor to a few words rather than a whole sentence, and make sure the sentence around it still reads well. Link only to pages that have to do with what you're writing about. In a post about coffee plantations, add links to the beans from those countries rather than to your delivery terms.

Which type to use depends on the link. For internal links between your own pages, choose words that name the page's topic. Mix exact, partial and related keywords in your internal link anchor text. For external links to other websites, a branded anchor or the title of the page you cite tells readers where they're going.

With backlinks, the links other sites give you, the other site picks the words. If you ask a site for a link, ask for your shop's name or the page title rather than a search term.

Anchor text mistakes to avoid

• Keyword stuffing. An anchor like "best cheap coffee beans Bolivia buy coffee online" keeps repeating the same words, which tires readers. Keyword stuffing also goes against Google's spam policies.
• Generic words. "Click here" and "see more" don't say where the link goes. Readers have to guess, which does little for trust in your brand.
• Too many links. Add links where a reader would want them, and take some out if a paragraph feels crowded. Don't put links right next to each other either.
• Paid links and optimised anchors on other sites. Google's spam policies count paid articles with links that pass ranking credit as link spam. The same goes for links with optimised anchor text, packed with the search terms you want to rank for, in articles, guest posts or press releases spread across other websites.

How to check the anchor text other sites use

Google's Links report shows the link text other websites use most often when they link to you. It's part of Google Search Console, under External links, Top linking text. You need to add and verify your website in Search Console first, and data can take a few days to appear in the report. For your roastery, you'd hope to see your shop's name and words about coffee there. Use the report to check that other sites describe your business accurately and that no spammy anchors link to your site.

Our SEO experts can refine your texts, headings and internal links for you, and build relevant backlinks to your site.

How to add anchor text on your website

How you add a link depends on the CMS or website builder you use.

In HTML

If you code your website yourself, write the link in the format shown under "What is anchor text?", with straight quotes around the address. Try the code in the W3Schools HTML Tryit editor.

In WordPress

On a WordPress website, select the words in a Paragraph block of the block editor, such as "coffee beans from Bolivia". Then add the address with the Insert links tool in the block toolbar.

In our Website Builder

In our classic Website Builder, you select the words in a text. You then link them to another page, a section, a file or an external website. Once you publish your changes, the link is live.

In Microsoft Word

Word turns a web address into a link as soon as you press Enter or the space bar after it. To put a link on other words, select them, choose Link on the Insert tab and enter the address in the Address box.

Put better anchor texts to work

Whichever tool you use, start with the links on your most visited pages, such as your roastery's blog posts. Rewrite every vague anchor there so it names the page it leads to. To fix an anchor you already have, write the clearer words into the sentence, link them to the same address and remove the old link. If you're starting a new site, you can build your website with our Aida AI Website Builder.