Link Anchor Text

Link text, also called anchor text is the text that appears between the <a > tags in a link, in this example <a href="http://www.diy-seo.com">SEO guide</a> SEO guide is the link text.

Google uses links as a major ranking factor and were we to compare a link to a nut anchor text would be the kernel, the "active ingredient" that can on its' own rank a page for terms that don't even appear on it.

Link text even has its own special allinanchor: search function with results a near mirror of those on a normal web search. not an exact match but close enough to indicate its primacy as a ranking factor.

However it can also be a pointer towards link manipulation, the link anchor text from "natural" links tends to vary while that from bought/exchanged links tends not to and there's a suspicion that too many links with identical anchor text can raise eyebrows.

Similarly with internal link text, invaluable for ranking inner pages that may never see an outside link it can be a pointer to site "inflation", particularly where minimal content is allied to excessive internal navigation.

It's harder to tell what part anchor text plays with Yahoo! MSN or Ask, but the success that links schemes such as Digitalpoints' COOP have had with these search engines would indicate they also use link anchor text as a major ranking factor.

For further reading on link anchor text we recommend: