The Importance of Anchor Text in Backlinks

What is an Anchor Text in backlinks & Why is it Important?

The importance of anchor text in backlinks concerning a link building strategy in search engine optimization cannot be exaggerated. An anchor is a text you click to jump from one internet website to another; it anchors two different websites on the internet together. Anchor text in backlinks is an enormous component of the search engine algorithm. When launching a linking campaign, external websites must link to your site utilizing the appropriate keywords and search terms in the anchor text.

Anchors are important for many reasons:

1. They show your users what to foresee before they click on the link. As Nielsen Norman Group explains, a link is a commitment. Anchor words are THE assurance about what is on the other side of the link, so they must be profoundly relevant.
2. They represent the Google algorithms that your content is regarding. Google’s algorithms utilize your anchor placements to ensure you are not engaging in spammy practices AND to learn the topics you are linking to in your copy. 

Practically always, linking campaigners will place the company name as anchor text in backlink. And this does not seem to present any type of description of the target company’s products or services. Sure, it may be great enough for branding objectives, but it isn’t normally required. In most cases, companies already rank very high (if not first) for searches that consolidate their brand.

Here is an example utilizing a fictional company “One Plumbing Supplies”:

Most people doing link building will create links simply using the terms “One”. This is alright, but it does not represent the company’s products or services, nor give any context. By combining the word “plumbing” or term “plumbing supplies” (i.e. “One Plumbing” or “One Plumbing Supplies”), you may be able to drive additional traffic that may not have otherwise accomplished the corporate site.