Anchor Text (Link Text) is the clickable, user-visible text portion of a hyperlink. In HTML, it appears as <a href="...">This part is anchor text</a>.
Types of anchor text:
- Exact match: “keyword tool” → /araclar/anahtar-kelime/
- Partial match: “review the best keyword tool”
- Branded: “SEOYEN” → seoyen.com
- Naked URL: “https://seoyen.com”
- Generic: “click here”, “learn more”
- Image anchor: If the link is an image, the image’s alt text serves as the anchor text.
Anchor text provides search engines with a strong clue about what the linked page is about. However, excessive use of exact match anchors (over-optimization) can be considered spam by the Penguin algorithm.
Tip: A healthy backlink profile consists of a variety of anchor types: mostly branded and generic, a small portion partial match, and very little exact match. For internal links, use natural anchor text that is relevant to the topic.