The Anchor Tag and SEO

Anchor Text is the visible, click able text in a hyperlink. In modern browsers, it is often blue and underlined. SEO-friendly anchor text is relevant to the target page.

Tag: <a>

Syntax: <a href="url.html" title="keyword-rich link title here" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Viewable text</a>

Anchor tag indicates that the element located within will become a hyperlink. Hyperlinks are links on a page which point to other web pages. HREF stands for hypertext reference and its attribute is set to a URL. Anchors are links on a page which point to a particular position within a page. Both use the anchor tag syntax and have a number of attributes which can optionally be used. The title is displayed when the user moves their mouse over the link, while the anchor text (denoted by the string "Viewable Keyword-rich text" in the syntax description above) is the text which is displayed permanently on the page for everyone to see.

How Search Engines Use Anchor Text in SEO?

Search engines use the descriptive text in the anchor of a link in order to help determine the relevancy and topical nature of the page that it’s linking to.

For example, if a particular webpage has lots of backlinks with the anchor “digital marketing”, “digital marketing tips”, “digital marketing and seo blog”, and then search engines will be able to recognize and understand the context of the target page.

In addition to anchor text, search engines also analyze the content of the source page (i.e. the page the link is on) and the keywords and title tag of the target page in order to determine relevancy and content. This process then allows Google to return more relevant results to their users in the search queries.

Finally, SEOs have proven in the past that when you have two links on a page that both point to the same destination, Google only counts the anchor text of the “first” link when assigning relevancy.

What SEO’s should know about the <a> tag?

• Always use targeted keywords in the anchor text, i.e. <a href=”http://codigitalmarketing.blogspot.in/” title=”digital marketing and seo”> digital marketing and seo</a>.
• Never use meaningless words like Click Here in your anchor text.
• While the title attribute is not indexed and taken into consideration by search engines, it is still advisable to use it, i.e. <a href=”http://codigitalmarketing.blogspot.in/” title=”digital marketing and seo”> digital marketing and seo</a>.
• Make sure that the content of the linked page contains the keyword you use as anchor text for the link to that page.
• Ideally, the anchor text in your link should be repeated at the beginning of the <title> tag of the linked page.
• Consult with the copywriter (if any) about the anchor text of the link if he/she wants something, and you want something else. Explain to him/her the importance of keyword rich anchor text.
• Don’t link to and don’t get linked to from junk websites.
• When building links from external websites, frequently alternate the anchor text with alternate versions of the targeted keywords.
• No followed links from external website may not pass links, but they are useful if they send targeted traffic (i.e., Wikipedia links are not followed, but they can send qualified leads).
• Don’t get stuck on keyword density, and don’t try to screw up the copywriter’s work.

What copywriters should know about the anchor tag?

• The anchor text is important for both search engines and readers.
• You should balance creativity and SEO.
• Use strong call to action verbs outside the anchor text.
• Don’t use generic terms like Click Here to link a page.
• Put the most important keywords in links, at the beginning of the anchor text if possible.
• Don’t stuff your copy with links on the same exact targeted keywords; use keyword variations (i.e. plural vs. singular versions) for the anchor text.
• Search engines use stemming (reducing a word to its stem or root) in their algorithm.
• Don’t repeat the same anchor text more than 2 times per 100 words – use synonyms instead.