Anchor Text Optimisation

November 20, 2008

Anchor text is a text link on a website that points to another page or resource. An example would be as follows:

“Just Search provide search engine optimisation services”

As you can see ‘search engine optimisation’ is the anchor text.

Not only is the choice of anchor text an important part of creating a useable website, it is also a useful tool in the SEO process. Well chosen text helps search engines understand what the page being linked to is about.

Using wording such as ‘view product’ is informing the search engines that the link page is about the subject ‘view product’. A more effective way to write the link would be to use the product name or description. For example:

“View our selection of Christmas cards for sale”

Keywords in anchor text can be utilised for internal links and also for backlinks to your site. If you are asking another site to link back to you, it is a good practice to provide them with the html code for them to paste onto their page. That way you ensure that the correct anchor text is used. It is also a good idea to vary the keywords you use in backlinks to avoid the search engines thinking you are spamming them.

Finally always make sure that your anchor text makes sense to both the viewer of the website as well as the search engines.

Caroline Bell
SEO programmer