The traditional anchors provide stability, connection, and security, thereby preventing a ship from drifting away; no matter how hostile or friendly the tides are.
In the digital landscape, anchors provide direction, relevance, and clarity so that the busy online readers with shifting attention span remain engaged, and visit their intended pages by making an informed choice.
The anchor text has been long here, is one of the most talked-about topics among digital marketers (all stakeholders included), and it has its share of reactions – good, bad and mixed. But its relevance, although some will argue, is not diminished. It has always been, and still is, one of the strongest ranking factors in the SERPs.
So, an anchor text is basically a text (a word or set of words) that can be clicked. Upon clicking, the user will be directed to another page within the website or to an external website. The highlighted text carries a clickable link that gives you an idea about if you click it, where you would eventually land.
Let’s take an example!
“Find the best SEO content writers, who do not need AI tools for writing”
In this above instance, “the best SEO content writers” is hyperlinked and is anchored. The link is (http://www.seocontentwriter.in) but you do not directly see the entire URL, rather you see highlighted words which you can click.
So, what does the anchor do here?
- It allows you to click on a certain link (our homepage in the example)
- It gives you an overview of what to expect if you click on it (find the best SEO content writers)
- It is highlighted (underlined meaning a link is in here)
A video example follows –
Other than hinting what’s in it for a user, it also helps search engines understand the context and relevance of the linked page. Anchor text when used legibly improves user experience, and rankings; but overdoing it kills the overall effort. Manipulating anchor text is penalized and undermining it equals missing opportunities.
