Link Text
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Definition
Link text is a hyperlinked piece of text which, when clicked, takes the user to a different web page. It could be just one word, a phrase, or a complete sentence. The web page that the reader is being recommended could either be a page on the same site, called an internal link, or a page on another site, called an external link.
The text that possesses the link is usually distinguished from the body of the website’s copy by being underlined and set in a different font color. Link text is also commonly referred to as anchor text.
The words that have been selected to incorporate this link are usually relevant to the web page that it is hyperlinked to. For example, on a website that shares drinks recipes, in a hot chocolate blog post, the creator can help the reader find more recipes that may be of interest. So, within the copy, a hyperlink could be created to direct the user to the site’s collection of chocolate drinks tutorials.
For this, an example choice of link text would be ‘Find more chocolate drinks recipes here.’
Visitors to your site can use your recommendations to learn more about relevant topics, access other useful resources that relate to this information, or access the references that you have credited within your copy. Link text provides an indication of what each of these suggested pages are about.
Varieties of link text
In the context of SEO, different types of link text can be distinguished, depending on how closely the wording matches the target keyword of the linked page (the web page that your readers are being directed to).
Below, you will find more information about the most common varieties of link text.
Exact-match link text - This form of link text, as the name suggests, exactly matches the keyword that the target page is optimized for. So, if you were linking to a page that is optimized for the target keyword ‘how to eat well’, your link text would use exactly the same wording. (Whereas partial-match link text closely resembles the keywords, so using this example, this link text could be ‘eating well’).
Partial-match link text - Partial-match link text partially matches the keyword. For example, it could include an extra word or only include one part of the main keyphrase. Examples of partial match link text for the key phrase “backlink building” are “backlink building blog” and “backlinks”.
Generic link text - Rather than using wording that is specific to the target page, generic link text holds no relevance to the target page. A good example of this would be, ‘see here’ or ‘find out more here.’
Branded link text - Rather than using the primary keyword or title of the page to provide the link text, here, the name of the brand or company that owns the target page is used. So, if the example we’ve been using came from the ‘Healthy Eating Magazine’ website, then you would select this brand name.
Naked link text - In this example, instead of creating link text that fits with the prose of your website content, you simply use the hyperlink (often a simplified, stylistically clean version) itself to connect readers to the page.
Optimal usage of link text
The best way to use link text within your copy is to keep it as closely related to the linked page as possible. You can do this by ensuring that the link text you use is indicative of the content and information provided on the page that it is linked to. Visitors (and indeed search engines like Google) must be able to infer what topics these linked pages cover through these keywords.
You should have selected this linked content with the aim of targeting your reader’s interests. As such, your chosen link text should be relevant to both the target page and your own copy alike, while also achieving the balance between being informative and descriptive, yet still remaining succinctly put.
You can keep these words relevant to the linked page by ensuring that the reference is accurately worded and provides your readers with a clear indication of what they can expect to find by accessing this content.
How to add link text
An HTML link within a web page will act as a hyperlink. To define the link text within an anchor tag in HTML, you need to use the <a> tag. This tag provides the anchor element of the link. This anchor element can then be linked to a URL by using a hypertext reference. This is achieved by using an href, which specifies the URL for the linked page.
So, in order to embed this HTML link into your text, you will need to use the syntax:
<a href="URL">link text</a>
Then, just add the required URL and your chosen link text into the syntax.
For example, an anchor tag in HTML with a defined piece of link text would look like this:
<a href="example.com">This is an example</a>
User Accessibility
Ensuring that your link text is accessible is important, especially for users who rely on screen readers for web navigation. Link text plays a crucial role in providing a coherent and navigable user experience for all users of a website.
For users utilizing screen readers, the link text is often the first element that is read aloud. Therefore, it's important that the link text is descriptive and provides clear context. Moreover, ensuring that link text is distinguishable from the rest of the content without relying solely on color is vital. Utilizing underlines or different font styles can aid in making link text more perceivable to users with visual impairments.
Incorporating these practices not only enhances user accessibility but also aligns with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), thereby ensuring that your website is inclusive and accessible to a wider audience.
Importance of link text for SEO
The impact that link text has on your SEO varies depending on the type of link. We’ll discuss the SEO impact of link text for each type of link below.
Backlinks
Backlinks are links pointing to your webpage on other sites. The anchor text used in these backlinks plays an important role in SEO. When the anchor text contains the target keyword of the page it links to or is at least topically relevant to that page, it can positively influence that page's ranking for that keyword. However, if there are too many backlinks with exact-match anchor text, Google might see it as an attempt to game the system and penalize the site. This is why it’s important to maintain a balanced link profile when linkbuilding.
External Links
External links direct readers from your site to another website. It's good practice to make these links relevant to both your page and the page being linked to. External links should add value to readers by linking out to external web pages with more information on topics that can’t be covered in their entirety on the main page. When adding external links to a page, it’s important not to use the same target keywords in the link text for these links as it can signal to search engines that the other page is a better source for that keyword.
Internal Links
Internal links connect different pages within your website. For SEO purposes, it's essential that the anchor text used for internal links is unique and specific to the content it points to. Reusing the same anchor text for different subpages can confuse search engines about the relevance of each page, leading to cannibalization issues. To avoid this, make sure each internal link accurately represents its destination and each page targets a single keyword/topic.
Related links
- https://developers.google.com/style/link-text
- https://diggitymarketing.com/anchor-text-optimization/
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