Anchor Text is a word or group of words that is user to link from your page to another page on your site or blog, or to a web page, blog, article, image, etc on a site outside of your own. It is usually blue and underlined, but can be manipulated though stylesheets to appear differently.In the example above, we see several anchor links, the first few being “social results settings”, “Remove all Google Web History” and “disable cookie in your browser”. In these three cases, the anchor text takes you off the site to articles that give more information on these three topics, along with step by step instructions.
When used properly, anchor text can really enhance the user experience and entice users to actually take the action you want them to take. However, it is important to keep some basic ground rules in mind when using anchor text for optimal results.
Linking a web page in another web page with suitable and appropriate anchor text gives an idea to the readers about what they are going to learn. When you use descriptive anchor text, you are setting an execration while also being informative. Such clickable anchor text links influence people to learn more related information and satisfy everyone. Inserting links in a web page with better anchor text increases interest and expectation on a site in visitors, also increases number of pages authority and finally spreads reputation through social media. Another benefit is the average site spend by every visitor is increased rapidly. This is what actually a site owner expects from own site.
Anchor text also has great advantages for Search Engine Optimization. The text used an anchor text is an indication to the search engines of the relevance of the linked page to the topic mentioned in the anchor text. It also has the added benefit or increasing the relevance of the page the link is on for that phrase as well.
A common pitfall of writers of the web is to use actor text to simply give direction (“click here”, “read more”) but not provide any context. An unfortunate result is that, if used too much, can give your site ranking for the phrase “click here” or “read more”.
See what I did there?
Another common practice is that your anchor text be understandable when read out of context. In the example above “remove all Google Web History”, the visitor should expect that by clicking on that anchor text, they will learn more about how to remove their Google Web History. However, having said that, you want to be sure your anchor text is as concise as possible. You should avoid using entire sentences or short paragraphs as the entire anchor text. Think in terms of phrases with at least a noun, if you a verb and a noun.
Finally, your anchor text should be styled in such a way that it stands out from the other text, and is clearly defined for taking action. Poor design practice is one that creates a style on the anchor text that makes it the same color as the rest of the text on the page, or worse, eliminates the underline. I have seen some styles where the underline and color is invisible until the visitor mouses over the anchor text. Why make it harder for your readers to follow the train of thought by hiding instructions? You wouldn’t hide the stop sign and the intersection of a busy street, would you?
