# What is Anchor Text? How Link Text Affects SEO > Anchor text — the clickable text in a hyperlink — sends important signals to search engines about what linked pages are about. This guide explains anchor text… Source: https://elitedigitalagency.io/blog/what-is-anchor-text/ Format: Markdown mirror of the HTML page (text/markdown). Content is identical; the canonical, citable version is the HTML source URL above. --- Technical SEO # What is Anchor Text? How Link Text Affects SEO Anchor text — the clickable text in a hyperlink — sends important signals to search engines about what linked pages are about. This guide explains anchor text strategy. By Kaiser Khan · 27 June 2026 · 7 min read Last verified: 27 June 2026 what is anchor textanchor text SEOlink anchor textanchor text strategy Direct Answer Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink — what you see in blue underlined text when reading web content. For SEO purposes, anchor text communicates to search engines what the linked page is about. Links with descriptive, keyword-relevant anchor text help search engines understand page topics and contribute to keyword rankings. However, over-optimised anchor text — using the exact target keyword as anchor text in an unnatural proportion of links — can trigger Google's Penguin algorithm and negatively affect rankings. Anchor text diversity is an important principle in sustainable link building. A natural backlink profile includes a mix of anchor text types: branded anchors (the company name), URL anchors (the raw URL itself), generic anchors ('click here', 'read more'), partial match anchors (containing part of the target keyword), and exact match anchors (the precise target keyword). Sites with an unnaturally high proportion of exact match anchors often signal manipulative link building to Google's algorithms. ## Types of anchor text and how to use them - Branded anchors ('Elite Digital Agency') — safe, natural, and reinforce brand recognition; the most common type in healthy profiles - URL anchors ('elitedigitalagency.io') — natural and safe; common in forum and editorial citations - Generic anchors ('click here', 'read more', 'find out more') — natural in user-generated contexts but provide minimal ranking signal - Partial match anchors ('digital marketing agency in the UK') — keyword-relevant but not exact; good SEO signal with lower over-optimisation risk - Exact match anchors ('digital marketing agency London') — highest ranking signal but highest over-optimisation risk; use sparingly for external links - Image alt text — when an image is used as a link, the alt text functions as the anchor text Link profile analysis What is anchor text over-optimisation and how do I avoid it? Anchor text over-optimisation occurs when an unnatural proportion of backlinks use exact-match keyword anchors — which signals manipulative link acquisition to Google. A healthy backlink profile has predominantly branded and URL anchors, with a natural minority of partial and exact match keyword anchors. To avoid over-optimisation: focus link building efforts on earning contextual links where anchor text is determined by the linking site's author (naturally resulting in varied text), and avoid building links specifically with target keyword anchors. Does internal link anchor text matter as much as external anchor text? Internal link anchor text matters significantly — it is one of the most effective ways to communicate to search engines what a page is about. For internal links, using descriptive, keyword-relevant anchor text is strongly recommended (unlike external links, internal anchor text is entirely within your control). The risk of over-optimisation from internal links is considerably lower than from external links. Using descriptive anchors in internal links — 'conversion rate optimisation services' rather than 'click here' — is a straightforward technical SEO improvement on most sites. ### Ready to improve your Technical SEO? Get a free consultation from our expert team. Talk to us ### What to do next ### Tags what is anchor textanchor text SEOlink anchor textanchor text strategy KK Kaiser Khan Founder & Director · Elite Digital Agency Kaiser Khan is the founder of Elite Digital Agency (Elite Digital AI Solutions Ltd). He specialises in SEO, Answer Engine Optimisation, and AI search strategy for UK businesses and charities. Author page · mrkaiserkhan.com ↗ Keep reading ## Related articles Technical SEO ### What is a Google Penalty? Manual Actions and Algorithmic Demotions Explained 8 min read · Kaiser Khan Technical SEO ### How Does Google's Search Algorithm Work? The Key Systems Explained 8 min read · Kaiser Khan Technical SEO ### What is a CDN? Content Delivery Networks and Website Performance 7 min read · Kaiser Khan Want expert help with your digital marketing? Our team of SEO, AEO, and performance specialists are ready to review your strategy. Get a free consultation See our services