What Is Anchor Text In SEO? Best Practices, Examples, And Common Mistakes
As a copywriter, I get to understand a lot about how copy really works, beyond just what it says. One of those things is anchor text.
Anchor text – those underlined, clickable words that can take a site visitor to another page, either on or off your website – might look unimportant. But they play a much bigger role in your SEO strategy. When used effectively, it helps search engines understand your content and guides your site visitors on where to go next. But if it’s used badly, it can confuse them and even do some damage to your search rankings.
So, how does anchor text work, how do you optimise it, and what should you avoid if you want to stay visible in search engine results for the long term?
What is anchor text in SEO?
Anchor text is the descriptive, clickable text in a hyperlink. It’s often underlined and can appear in a different colour from the main text, helping it stand out (you’ll see a few throughout this post). It can apply to both internal links (between pages on your site) and external links (to another website), though internal linking gives you more control over your SEO.
Anchor text acts as a contextual prompt. It helps search engines understand what the target page (the page you’re linking to) is about and how different pages are relevant to each other. Generic link text (like ‘click here’ or ‘find out more’) doesn’t do this. That just makes it harder for Google (or other search engines) to know what linked pages are about.
In an interview with Search Engine Journal, the leading resource for search news and best practices, Google Search Advocate John Mueller is quoted as saying, “Essentially, internal linking helps us…to find pages… and get a bit of context about that specific page.”
So, using internal links with clear, descriptive anchor text helps strengthen any other SEO elements you already have set up. Done right, it improves navigation and user experience for visitors and boosts relevance in search results.
While good anchor text on its own won’t boost rankings, it will help search engines understand your content as part of your wider SEO efforts.
Best practices to use anchor text effectively
1. Be descriptive
All anchor text should be as clear, descriptive, and accessible as possible and written with the user in mind to tell them what they’ll find when they click it. Adding it naturally into the text improves the user experience while giving search engines much clearer signals. For example, look at the difference between these two links:
❌ “Click here”
✅ “See our Garden landscaping services”
2. Keep it concise
There are no hard rules about how long anchor text should be, but you should aim to keep it as concise as possible within a sentence. It should still clearly describe the linked page, but if it’s too long, it becomes harder to read. Making it shorter keeps it clear for users and search engines. Here’s a good and bad example:
❌ “If you want to boost your SEO, read our step-by-step guide on how to optimise your website”
✅ “To boost your rankings, read our step-by-step SEO guide on how to optimise your website”
3. Match user intent
When you’re looking at how to do your anchor text, think about why someone should click on the link in the context of the page. Are they looking for more information, comparing products, or just wanting to buy? Whatever the reason, it should reflect what the user needs and will find helpful, like these examples:
Types of anchor text
1. “Sign up for our newsletter” – This is transactional/action-based.
2. “Read our report on xxxx” – This is informational/educational.
3. “Learn more about our blog writing service” – This is navigational/branded.
4. “Read about our governance and leadership” – This is contextual/descriptive.
How to optimise anchor text for SEO
Optimising any of your anchor text doesn’t need to be complicated, and there’s really no great hidden secret to doing it – it’s pretty much common sense. But here are some tips to help you:
Keyword variation
Exact-match text – using the same SEO keyword every time – was once a common SEO practice. But Google has come a long way since the old days of SEO tactics like this, and can understand natural language, so relevance is better than repetition.
Good SEO practice means using natural language and switching up your anchor text based on context and keywords. That could mean you use more branded anchors with your business name included, partial keyword matches, or contextual anchors.
Stay concise
As I mentioned above, keep your anchor text concise. Good examples are usually 2-6 words. No one wants to see anchors that are as long as an average sentence and awkward to read. It looks all sorts of wrong and doesn’t scream clarity, which you want more of, not less.
Final destination
If the link anchor text says one thing and the page someone lands on delivers something else, users will probably, and rightly, leave your site immediately. Search engines will probably see this as poor UX, so make sure the destination page clearly fulfils the expectation set by your text.
Common anchor text mistakes to avoid
Good anchor text optimisation will work for you, but there are still things you should avoid doing. We’ve touched on these, and again, many are common sense, but here’s a handy list:
Over-optimised text
Using keyword stuffing and exact-match anchors like ‘best cheap SEO services’ can trigger spam red flags, which is something you definitely don’t want. Google’s algorithms can now specifically target dodgy linking practices.
Generic phrases
There are some common link phrases like ‘click here’, ‘read more’, or ‘learn more’ that don’t give anyone any context – especially search engines. Using actual descriptive words in your anchor text also improves accessibility for people using screen readers, helping them know where a link will take them without needing additional context.
Misleading anchors
Don’t use anchor text that oversells or misinterprets the content it’s linking to as it can confuse users. It will also reduce trust and make your linking less effective. If it’s seen as a wider pattern of link manipulation, it could also negatively impact your site’s search performance.
Linking everything
You don’t need to link to everything. Over-linking creates a messy page and can weaken the impact of your most important pages. Only link to relevant pages on your website or to external ones (remember that external links can take users away from your site, but it’s also good to cite your sources, so linking to a trusted or authoritative page provides helpful context).
Anchor text for your business
Optimised anchor text is a small thing that can bring big wins to your website and your business. It improves site crawlability, helps reinforce topic authority, and guides users one step closer to buying from you. When you pair it with genuinely helpful content and positive link building, it will help deliver long-term SERP visibility.
To quote Google from its own Link Best Practices Guide, “Google uses links as a signal when determining the relevancy of pages and to find new pages to crawl. Learn how to make your links crawlable so that Google can find other pages on your site via the links on your page, and how to improve your anchor text so that it’s easier for people and Google to make sense of your content.”
So, get your links and their text to help users first, and the SEO benefits will follow.
Need help improving your website’s SEO?
Strong anchor text is only effective when it’s part of well-written, strategically planned content. If your website isn’t bringing in the traffic or enquiries you’d like, I can help. As a freelance SEO copywriter, I write website and blog content that’s written for people first. But I also follow SEO best practices, from keyword research and internal linking to natural anchor text.
If you’d like content that helps your website perform better in search results and gives visitors a reason to stick around, then outsourcing your copy is a great place to start. Get in touch to see how I can help.
Anchor text FAQs
What is anchor text in SEO?
Anchor text is the underlined, clickable text (known as a hyperlink) that helps users and search engines understand what the target page (the page you’re linking to) is all about and what they can expect to see.
Does anchor text help SEO?
Potentially, yes, but it’s not a ranking factor in itself. To give yourself an SEO head start, use relevant, clear, and natural words in your anchor text that show topic relevance and link context.
How long should anchor text be?
You should use one main concept per bit of anchor text. Aim for 2-6 short, descriptive words, which will work best and help reduce over-optimising your words.
Can you use keywords in anchor text?
Yes, but with limitations. Use natural language and base your anchor text on context, including partial keyword matches rather than using exact-match keywords every time.
