Anchor Text

Anchor text refers to word or phrases on a webpage that indicate an active hyperlink.

For example, in both the header and the footer of this page, the word “Home” is the anchor text for the hyperlink to the home page of this web site. The words that are used in the anchor text are important for two reasons. First, for the visitor to the web site, the anchor text describes the destination the visitor will arrive at if they click on the hyperlink. Second, when Google creates an index for the content on a particular page, it places a higher weight on the anchored text than it does for most of the other text on the page.

From the standpoint of search engine optimization (SEO), this distinction is very important. Why? Because Google also ranks a particular page higher IF the page has many inbound links from other reputable web pages from other domains. However, it is not just the fact that there are inbound links that are important to Google. It is the anchor text in those other pages that are also important. If all of the inbound links use the same anchor text, AND the anchor text contain keywords that appear on the page, Google concludes that the content on the page is highly relevant to that particular subject. And therefore, the pages’s rank is enhanced.

Example HTML code: the words John Fox are considered the anchor text:
<a href="http://www.venturemarketing.com">John Fox</a>