Links

Anchor text

link text · anchor

Definition

Anchor text is the visible, clickable words of a hyperlink. Search systems use it as a hint about the target page. Digital PR should not. Editors will write “a new study,” the company name, or “click here.” Asking for “best cheap wire transfer app” as the anchor is how pitches get filed as spam.

Natural anchors are messy. That is a feature.

How it works

Log what the editor actually wrote. If you suggest an anchor at all, suggest the study title or the organization name. Never send a spreadsheet of commercial phrases.

Worked example

Six links: two study titles, two brand names, one “researchers found,” one URL pasted as text. All fine. A seventh from a marketplace using the exact-match commercial query is the one you should disavow or avoid in the first place.

How it differs

A backlink is the href. Unlinked mention has no anchor because it has no href. Rel attributes sit on the same tag as the anchor.

Common errors

Exact-match commercial anchors in pitches. Celebrating only branded anchors. Stuffing keywords into the pitch’s suggested “link to.”

Sources