Anchor text

Anchor text is the visible, clickable piece of text in a link. In the sentence "see our prices for loft insulation", for example, "prices for loft insulation" could be the link. Those words tell readers what to expect when they click, and they give search engines a clue about the topic of the page being linked to.

Anchor text appears in your own internal links, but also in links other websites point to you. In both cases, the wording plays a role.

It's a small detail with a big influence on how usable your website feels. Good anchor text makes a promise that the page behind it delivers on. Vague or misleading anchor text causes confusion, for people and for machines.

Why does anchor text matter?

For visitors it's simple: clear anchor text makes a page easier to scan and use. People who use a screen reader sometimes have a list of all the links on a page read out to them. Ten times "click here" tells them nothing.

For search engines, anchor text is a signal about the content of the target page. Google states in its own guidelines that good anchor text should be descriptive, concise and relevant. So it probably plays a part in how a page is understood, although it's certainly not the only or the strongest signal.

Types of anchor text

• Descriptive: "our guide to VAT returns for sole traders". Usually the best choice.
• Brand name: the name of your business, typically in mentions on other sites.
• Exact match: precisely the keyword the target page focuses on.
• Generic: "click here", "read more". Not very informative, for readers or for search engines.
• Naked URL: the web address itself as the link text.

How to use anchor text well

Take an accountancy firm in Manchester that runs a blog. In an article on corporation tax, it links to its services page. Instead of "you'll find more info here", it writes: "we also take care of year-end accounts for small limited companies", with those last words as the link. The reader knows what they'll get, and so does the search engine. The link also stands out more in the text than a separate button.

A few rules of thumb:

1. Let the link fit naturally into the sentence.
2. Describe the target page, not the act of clicking.
3. Vary your wording; using exactly the same search term everywhere feels forced.
4. Don't use the same anchor text for two different pages, as that can contribute to keyword cannibalisation.

Anchor text in external links and AI search

With backlinks, you have less control over the anchor text. And that's fine: a natural profile contains lots of brand names and variation. An artificially high number of links with exactly the same commercial search term can actually raise suspicion with search engines.

For AI search engines such as Perplexity and ChatGPT, a clear link structure probably helps them understand how your pages relate to each other. A well-built website, where every link makes clear what the next page is about, is easier for people and machines to follow. You'll find more practical tips on internal links and content structure on the Spacebird blog about SEO and AI visibility.