SEO GLOSSARY
What is anchor text?
Anchor text is the visible, clickable text of a hyperlink. It matters because Google reads it to understand what the linked page is about, so descriptive anchors help both readers and rankings, while generic or keyword-stuffed anchors waste the link or look manipulative.
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Updated 23 October 2026
What is anchor text in HTML, with an example?
Anchor text is whatever sits between the opening <a href> tag and the closing </a> tag. Google also calls it link text.
In <a href="/tools/page-speed-test/">free page speed test</a>, the anchor text is "free page speed test". A reader knows where the link goes before clicking, and so does Google.
Google's guidance is that good anchor text is descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant to both the page it is on and the page it links to. Its quick test: read the anchor out of context. If you cannot tell what the next page is about, it needs rewriting.
What are the types of anchor text?
Most SEO tools sort anchors into six types. A natural link profile mixes them; one type dominating is a warning sign.
| Type | Example | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Exact match | running shoes | Strongest relevance signal, riskiest when overused |
| Partial match | best shoes for trail running | Descriptive and natural |
| Branded | Brightpath | Usually the most common in healthy profiles |
| Naked URL | example.com/shoes | Common in citations |
| Generic | click here, read more | Tells nobody anything |
| Image | The image's alt text | Google uses alt as the anchor |
How to check and optimize anchor text on a page
List every link on the page, flag generic, broken or repeated anchors, then rewrite them. Digimetrics Anchor Text Cleaner does this in 15 seconds to 1.5 minutes.
Give the anchor text checker a page URL and the keyword it should rank for. It returns a link count, the problems (generic, broken or over-optimised anchors) and a written fix for each link.
In the official tutorial's sample (fictional brand Brightpath), a page had 38 links with four problems; one exact phrase repeated on nine links was flagged as over-optimised. The fix was to vary the wording so each anchor described its own destination. For links pointing in from other sites, review anchors with the backlink checker.
- Describe the destination, not the action (avoid "click here").
- Keep it short: a few words usually beat a full sentence.
- Vary internal anchors across pages instead of repeating one phrase.
- Write image alt text that works as an anchor.
QUESTIONS PEOPLE ASK
Frequently asked questions
Still unsure? Email support@digimetrics.ai and a person will reply.
What does anchor text mean in SEO?
It is the clickable wording of a link, used by search engines as a clue to the topic of the linked page. Descriptive anchors on relevant links help that page get understood correctly.
What is good anchor text?
Good anchor text is short, specific and accurate: "schema markup guide" rather than "this article". It should make sense on its own and match what the reader finds after clicking.
Can too many exact-match anchors hurt?
They can. Repeating the same keyword on many links looks engineered, and Google treats forced keywords as stuffing. Mix branded, partial-match and descriptive anchors.
How do I anchor text in Google Docs?
Select the words, press Ctrl+K (Cmd+K on Mac) and paste the URL. The selected words become the anchor text. The same principle applies in any website editor.
Fix the links that are wasting your words.
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