What is Anchor Text?

Anchor text is the visible text that leads to a link. Search engines use it to figure out how relevant the link beneath it is to the content on the other side of a link.

You may see anchor text like this:

ApricotLaw specializes in law firm marketing.

In this case, the anchor text is “ApricotLaw.” The link leads to our homepage, and it’s very relevant because you naturally assume that you’ll be taken there when you click on our firm’s name.

You may also see anchor text like this:

ApricotLaw specializes in lawyer SEO.

In this case, the anchor text is “lawyer SEO.” The link leads to a page about SEO for lawyers, which is also relevant because you have a pretty good idea about the page you’ll be visiting if you click the link.

Your anchor text should always be relevant to the page it’s on and to the page it’s linking to – otherwise you risk being penalized by Google and other search engines.