Anchor text is a link within your website content that leads to another website on the internet. It can be an internal link (to another page on your own website) or to another website for readers to get more information. The anchor text is usually a word or phrase relevant to the link it is going to and is recognized by Google as part of SEO strength.
How to Build the Anchor Text
Most website builders have a menu bar making link building easy. By highlighting the word or phrase you want as the anchor to the link, you then click the chain link icon in the menu. A pop-up appears under the highlighted text where you can paste the intended link.
For example, we are going to link about anchor text to Moz here.
The steps for adding a link to anchor text are:
- Copy the link from the internal or external website
- Highlight the word or phrase you want to link
Use the chain link icon to add the link.
- Click the chain link icon in the menu bar
- Paste into the popup box under the anchor text
You’ll see we linked to the phrase Moz here.
While this is the source of the information, it might be better to link to a different phrase that gives readers (and Google) a path for more information. “Anchor text” is the natural phrase readers are associating with the information.
Changing or Moving the Link for Anchor Text
To move the link on the anchor text:
- Click on the anchor text so the link pops up. Right-click to get the dropdown menu.
- Copy the link.
- Highlight the new text and click the same chain link icon. Paste.
To remove the anchor text link:
- Click on the anchor text.
- Click on the broken chain link icon.
Why Anchor Text is Important
Link building tells the search engines you are connecting people to relevant data. Internal links tell Google that you feel this content pertains to other important content on your site. External links tell Google you are providing additional resources to help readers get more information and using expert information.
Anchor text plays a vital role in that equation. By masking the link, it is easier for the reader to remain engaged. No one wants to see a long URL string in the middle of a paragraph. It’s distracting. The search engine, post Penguin algorithm update, correlates the anchor text to the actual linked information.
If it isn’t relevant, Google will penalize you for a bad link.
