What is anchor text?

Anchor text is the text inside an <a> tag, the part a user clicks. Search engines use it to understand the topic of the page the link points to. When the link is an image, the image's alt text plays this role.

#Why it matters

• A link reading "solid oak dining table" carries far more context than "click here", for both internal links and backlinks.
• In a natural backlink profile the texts vary: brand name, bare URLs, generic phrases and topical phrases all appear.
• Heavy repetition of the same exact-match keyword in external links can look like artificial link building to Google.

#Where you see it in SEOAsist

• The Anchor texts card on Backlinks → Overview shows the 20 most used anchors across active links. Image links or empty anchors appear as (empty / image).
• The Links, Lost and Toxic tables show each link's anchor in its own column.

More: Backlink sync.

#Example

<!-- Brand -->
<a href="https://examplefurniture.com/">Example Furniture</a>

<!-- Topical phrase -->
<a href="https://examplefurniture.com/dining-table">oak dining table designs</a>

<!-- Generic, no context -->
<a href="https://examplefurniture.com/dining-table">click here</a>

#Common mistakes

• Always asking for the same commercial keyword in external links.
• Using "read more" or "click here" as the only anchor text on your own site.
• Linking two different pages with the same anchor text, so search engines can't tell which one owns the topic.