Although essential for giving consumers context, is anchor text a factor in Google rankings? Here is a report on it.
An SEO best practise for a long time has been keyword-rich anchor text. Considering that it allows you to inform search engines about the nature of the page your link is pointing to. Many people think that information affects how well the page ranks in search results.
In order to access a URL that is linked within some copy, a user must click on certain words or phrases known as “anchor text.” Does anchor text affect search engine rankings at all? Anchor text is helpful for giving users context on the page they’re about to visit.
Following the assertions concerning anchor text as a ranking component, there is evidence that either supports or refutes those assertions.
Ranking Considerations for Anchor Text
Insofar as it enables search engines to connect URLs with specific keywords or key phrases, anchor text is thought to be a ranking factor. In addition to what search engines can do with it, anchor text is crucial for improving website accessibility, which in turn improves user experience.
Another reason you’ll find anchor text listed as a top ranking criteria is because on-page optimization strategies that enhance user experience tend to correlate favorably with search rankings.
When it comes to website optimization, it’s a solid rule of thumb to put user experience first and SEO second.
A website is frequently optimised for search engines as a result of being developed to offer the optimal user experience to human visitors. Although it’s not always the case, you’ll discover that anchor text is an exception.
What Role Does Anchor Text Play in SEO?
Based on the words used in anchor text, Google can infer something about the subject matter of the page being linked to (the target page). When a page connects to a URL with the phrase “Amazon clothes” in the anchor text, Google is informed about the kind of page that users are being forwarded to.
It is less obvious to Google what the destination page is about when generic wording (such as “click here”) is used. The same way that a website would offer explanatory text to help readers, Google should receive the same assistance.
In many ways, anchor text improves the user experience. Descriptive anchor text can make it easier for users to find the links they’re looking for when they’re swiftly skimming through an article.
For instance, if a user clicks on an article that makes an outrageous claim, they might want to skim it to see where they can find the information’s source. Generic anchor text would not enable readers to locate the required link fast in such a scenario.
Additionally, it offers Google no information about the target page. Descriptive anchor text is advised above generic words or phrases because of this.
Accessibility is a different, less evident way that anchor text enhances the user experience. Consider the perspective of a visually challenged user who visits a website. Screen readers are necessary for users who are blind or visually handicapped to navigate the internet.
As a user navigates a website, this includes utilizing software to read out all the text, including links, on a page. Users won’t find a page to be very useful if it simply says “click here” or “read more” next to every link.
In fact, they might decide not to visit the website again since it would be so annoying. A positive user experience depends on accessibility. Even if you don’t think it matters to your particular audience, search engines like Google do.
Now that all of that has been said, let’s address the subject of whether anchor text affects rankings.
The Case for Ranking Factors Using Anchor Text
Yes, anchor text does affect rankings. Google’s SEO Starter Guide lists using descriptive anchor text as a best practice when placing links on a website. Although it can be difficult for beginners to understand, SEO is not a mysterious science.
Google wants to deliver the most pertinent results to visitors, and in order to do that, it requires the support of website owners. Google makes it obvious what website owners should do when optimizing sites for its search engine because of this.
It’s a good idea to pay attention to Google while optimizing pages to rank in Google. What does Google have to say about anchor text, then?
Adapted from the Google SEO Starter Guide:
The easier it is for users to browse and for Google to comprehend what the page you are linking to is about, the better your anchor text should be.
Users and search engines can understand the content of the linked pages with ease when the anchor text is appropriate.
The Starter Guide continues by urging the following excellent practises:
- Select descriptive language above general or irrelevant language.
- Instead of using a long sentence or paragraph, write short material.
- Make links obvious; they ought to be noticeable among the regular content.
- For internal links, add descriptive content; nevertheless, don’t overuse keywords.
In a more current Q&A with the SEO community, John Mueller from Google verified anchor text is still a ranking factor. During Mueller’s Q&As, anchor text comes up frequently. Here is another illustration, and Mueller this time focuses on the user experience side of anchor text:
“In general, altering anchor text internally to make it easier for visitors to understand benefits search engines’ comprehension of the context of those pages. Therefore, I would undoubtedly choose that.
Without mentioning its significance in the early years of SEO, we can’t talk about anchor text as a ranking component. Google’s advice on avoiding keyword stuffing in anchor text is a reference to how this signal was previously exploited.
In the past, it was simple for websites to manipulate their ranks by creating links with anchor text that contained the exact same keywords. Because of how severely search engines weighted anchor text, pages might rank for terms that didn’t even present in the on-page language.
Long-time SEO experts may recall that Adobe once ranked for the phrase “click here” because website owners frequently used it as an anchor text when linked to PDFs.
Google soon realised how spammers were abusing the overvaluation of anchor text. When the Penguin algorithm update was released in 2012, it addressed this problem in part by focusing on deceptive link-building strategies.
Now, sites that use exact match anchor text to manipulate their search engine rankings are more likely to have their efforts disregarded than rewarded.
Ranking Factors Using Anchor Text:
In order to understand pages better and maybe surface them for pertinent queries, Google acknowledges that anchor text is employed in search rankings.
The importance of anchor text as a ranking component is nowhere near what it was prior to Penguin, when sites could rank for any phrase by accumulating enough links that contained their desired keyword.
In spite of this, anchor text is nonetheless crucial to the SEO procedure.
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