Backlink Profile and Anchor Text. What's the Connection?
If you are working on your blog or site you’ve probably heard of backlink profile and anchor text. And you know how essential they are. Google itself and many SEO experts say how vital quality backlinks are for your site’s ranking.
Yet not all think about backlinks and anchor text connection. Well, we advise you to perceive it as a single whole. Google’s Senior Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller had multiply confirmed that the engine uses anchor text for a better understanding of the link’s essence.
This way, not only the backlinks themselves but also anchor text influence the site’s ranking.
Nevertheless, are all the anchor text equally beneficial for your site’s position? How do you ensure that the anchors work for the ranking boost and do no harm?
We get that link building is not the easiest task and anchor text may add some dismay. In this article, we’ll try to make things clearer. Continue reading to learn what best practices to implement and use anchor texts together with links like a pro.
Contents
- What is a backlink profile?
- What is an anchor text?
- Best practices of the anchor text
- How to create a great anchor text
- Conclusion
What is a backlink profile?
Let’s quickly revise what the backlink profile is. Basically, we can define the backlink profile as a list of the links that are pointing to your site.
So, your backlink profile may consist of a variety of backlinks:
- A collection of pages with the anchor text linking to you,
- A list of pages linking to your site grouped by the keywords class,
- An array of links from pages/sources based on the country’s origin.
Also, you can choose other key factors around which you’ll group the links. As you can see, it’s up to you how to form the list.
You may notice that some SEO specialists say they have a “strong” backlink profile. Nonetheless, there is no clear definition of the so-called “strong” profile. The only thing we can mention is that professionals associate quality backlinks with links coming from relevant, authority, and industry-related websites.
What is an anchor text?
According to Moz, the anchor text is a visible text you can click on and which is in a hyperlink. How do you recognize an anchor text? Well, it's pretty simple. Most of the browsers show it in blue and often underline it.
The anchor text appears when you are pointing to another site, page on your site, or another source. You need to also note that the image can contain anchor text. In this case, the search engines will assume the image’s alt tag as an anchor.
Accordingly, the text anchor in HTML will look like this.
<a href="http://www.adsy.com">guest posting service</a>
The image’s anchor text goes like this.
<a href=”https://adsy.com/blog”>
<img src=”/guest-posting.png” alt=”guest posting blog”/>
</a>
In both cases, Google will count the anchor text as a representation of how others see your page/site. In other words, the anchor shows what your page is about.
But that’s not all. Search engines use anchor text to understand what keywords it is better to rank your page for.
That’s why we insist on the anchor text’s importance.
You may think: “OK, I can influence the quality of the internal link anchor text. But about the external one?” Sure thing, it’s not the easiest task. What we can advise, is monitoring and auditing your backlinks.
All-in-all, the diversity of your anchor text profile ensures Google that you write expert and trustworthy content. That, in turn, helps your site rank better.
Anchor text variants
Of course, there are various types of anchor text. We also should mention that every anchor text type will have a different impact on the backlink profile. You can read Ahref’s study for more. But for now, let’s jump to the anchor text types.
Exact-match
In this case, we add a link to the phrase/keyword for which we’d like to rank. Also, the anchor text reflects the essence of the page we are linking to.
For instance: I am using Adsy’s guest posting service to place my articles.
We send customers to Adsy’s main page that tells about the guest posting service opportunities. So, we’d like to rank for the keyword “guest posting service.”
Branded
This way, the anchor text fully aligns with your brand’s name.
For instance: I am using Adsy’s guest posting service to place my articles.
The final destination is the same main page of Adsy.
Phrase match
In this situation, the anchor text is made of the keyword (we’d like to rank for) + another word(s).
For instance: I am using Adsy’s guest posting service to place my articles.
In fact, the landing page also fully fits the description of the anchor text.
Partial match
With this option, you also complete a mission of including the keyword into the anchor text. Yet the words’ position doesn’t fully correlate with the desired one.
For instance: I am using Adsy as a service for guest posting to place my articles.
As you can see, all the primary words are in the phrase. But we don’t get the initial words’ sequence we aim for.
Naked URL
As the name suggests, it’s a bare link to the page.
For instance: I am using Adsy’s guest posting service https://adsy.com/ to place my articles.
This way, we see the URL of the page to which the author directs us.
Genric or random
We all know this type of anchor text. In this case, a random word or phrase acts as an anchor text.
For instance: I am using Adsy’s guest posting service to place my articles. Click here to see.
The anchor text may also include this phrase in the whole - “click here.” Other popular options are read more, more, check more, etc.
Best practices of the anchor text
Remember, we’ve mentioned that not every anchor text is efficient? It’s time to study this issue a bit deeper. So, what should you take into account when creating anchor text?
Relevance
The formula is pretty simple. The more relevant the anchor text is the more quality the backlink is. How do you ensure this?
So, we’ve mentioned that the anchor text has to relate to the page/source you are pointing to. There might be a few options.
For example, your anchor is “mirrorless cameras.” You can link to the page that is called Mirrorless Cameras and offers a variety of gadgets to fellow photographers.
On the other hand, you may use the anchor “mirrorless cameras” in your article about the best cameras in 2022. You can employ this text with a link to direct readers to another article that offers more insights on this type of camera.
The point is that the page you are pointing to should relate to the anchor text.
Once again, Google algorithms become more and more elaborate. Always think about the balanced anchor text profile. Link relevancy will notify Google that the page is worth a better ranking and can satisfy customers’ queries.
Length
There are no official limitations. Just ensure the anchor text isn’t too long. Try to keep it short and clear.
Think of a phrase that describes your destination page the best way possible. Or choose the most fitting keyword.
And don’t forget about your readers. Ensure they want to press the “blue” phrase.
Density
“The more the better” is not the approach you should stick to. When SEO had only evolved, specialists used as many anchor texts with keywords as possible to get better rankings.
Sometimes, the backlink profile along with the anchors wasn’t even relevant. Well, it might work before.
Nowadays, Google algorithms easily detect black-hat SEO techniques. The too-high density of keyword-rich anchors looks unnatural. So, in the outcome, this tactic won’t bring any results (and can even harm your ranking).
Once again, a variety is your best friend. Using keywords as an anchor text still impacts your positions. Simply remember to put hyperlinks to different keywords.
How do you create a great anchor text profile?
So, we can agree that the anchor text of both backlinks and internal links are notable ranking factors. That’s why SEO professionals are paying close attention to the anchor text link.
But how do you master your backlink link profile? Well, an audit is your everything. Make sure to make permanent checks to avoid low-quality links and suspicious websites that are linking to you.
According to Semrush*, the anchor text distribution should look the following way:
- 30% to 40% is the branded anchor text
- 30% to 40% goes to partial match anchor text
- 20% to 40% is generic, naked, exact-match, and another anchor text
Respectively, your goal is to allow a diverse anchor text profile.
* Please, note that these are common recommendations. They may differ depending on your site type and industry. Just remember to analyze your top 20 competitors to get a better understanding of the anchor text use.
Conclusion
As you can see, anchor text can tangibly influence your positions. Should you use it right, you can wait for the ranking boost.
You may think about how to check your anchors to ensure everything is fine. Firstly, use special tools like Ahrefs, Semrush, and others to permanently audit your anchor text and backlink profile.
Do not forget about the anchor text diversity. Also, do your best to acquire backlinks from authority sites. If you want to guaranteedly build links with the anchor text you need, use Adsy’s guest posting service.
It ensures you get links from the DA40+ sites. Also, you can offer the anchor text for your links and our team will ensure it is covered in the quality and relative text.
Do you take care of the anchors? Do you correlate them with the backlinks and landing/target pages? Share your thoughts in the comments!
