What Is Anchor Text
Anchor text is the visible, clickable words in a hyperlink, and search engines read them as a label for the linked page. "cPanel hosting" is descriptive anchor text; "click here" says nothing. Use descriptive anchors internally, vary the phrasing, and avoid repeating one keyword across many links to the same page.
For site owners and writers who add links in WordPress and want anchors that help readers and search engines without looking manufactured.
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- 4 min
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- 7
- Updated
- 14 Nov 2026
- Written by
- WebJi® team
Last editorial update: 14 November 2026.
What is anchor text in a link?
Anchor text is the visible, clickable words inside a hyperlink, and search engines read those words as a label describing the page the link points to. In <a href="/cpanel-hosting/">cPanel hosting</a>, "cPanel hosting" is the anchor and the href is the destination.
The label works twice: a reader decides whether to click from it, and a crawler uses it as one clue about what the target covers. Google's own link guidance asks for anchor text that is descriptive, reasonably concise and relevant to both the page it sits on and the page it links to. A page linked fifty times as "click here" arrives with no topical label at all.
- The anchor is the text, not the URL; the URL lives in the
href. - For an image link, the image's
alttext acts as the anchor. - Google can only follow links written as
<a href>; a JavaScript click handler with nohrefpasses no anchor.
What are the types of anchor text?
There are eight common anchor text types — branded, brand plus keyword, exact match, partial match, related, naked URL, generic and image alt — and a natural profile mixes several rather than relying on one.
| Type | Example anchor | Points at |
|---|---|---|
| Branded | WebJi® | The home page |
| Brand plus keyword | WebJi cPanel hosting | The cPanel plan page |
| Exact match | cPanel hosting | A page about cPanel hosting |
| Partial match | hosting with cPanel included | The same page, different wording |
| Related | control panel | A page about panels in general |
| Naked URL | webji.in/cpanel-hosting | The URL printed as the link |
| Generic | click here | Anywhere, and says nothing |
| Image alt | cPanel dashboard screenshot | The linked image's target |
Internal links can lean on exact and partial match, because you know what each target is about. Links from other sites naturally lean on branded and naked URLs, because that is how people cite a business.
How does Google use anchor text today?
Google still uses anchor text to understand the linked page, but it is one signal among many and repetition is now the risk. The Penguin update of April 2012 targeted sites whose inbound links repeated one keyword phrase, and Google's spam policies treat links bought or arranged to manipulate rankings as link spam.
Fifty identical anchors pointing at one page look manufactured whether a person or a script wrote them. For a small Indian business site the practical rule is to use a phrase once or twice, then vary it: "cPanel hosting", "hosting with cPanel" and "the cPanel plan" all describe the same page honestly. How links themselves pass value is covered in what is a backlink.
How should you write internal link anchors?
Internal anchors are the part you fully control, so make each one name its destination in the words a reader would search for. You cannot choose the words other sites use, which is why internal anchors are worth fixing first.
- One phrase, one destination: never point the same phrase at two different pages; it splits the signal and sends readers to the wrong page.
- Descriptive, not "read more": the sentence should still make sense if the link were removed.
- Short: two to six words usually label a page better than a whole sentence.
- Menus count: a "Hosting" menu item on forty pages is forty anchors, so body links need not repeat it.
A WordPress-specific routine for planning these links is in WordPress internal linking.
How do you add anchor text in WordPress?
In the WordPress block editor, select the words, press the link button (or Ctrl+K, Cmd+K on a Mac), paste the URL and press Enter. One extra check catches most mistakes.
- Select the words that should become the link, for example "cPanel hosting".
- Click the link icon in the block toolbar or press Ctrl+K.
- Paste the destination URL, or type to search your own posts, and press Enter.
- Preview and hover the link: the status bar should show the final URL, not a redirect or a 404.
If the words you selected are "click here", rewrite the sentence so a real phrase fits.
How do you fix an over-optimised anchor text profile?
Rewrite the internal links that repeat one phrase first, then remove or vary paid or templated external links, and disavow only after reviewing the list. The symptom shows in Search Console's Links report or any backlink tool: one phrase dominates the anchors pointing at a money page.
The cause is usually a template, a directory listing or a batch of paid links written to one phrase. A disavow file tells Google to ignore links, and a wrong entry can remove good links along with bad ones. Fix the site, wait a quarter, then read the anchors again. If you would rather hand this to someone, WebJi®'s SEO services cover internal linking and on-page work, and link building is quoted by email before payment.
Frequently asked questions
Is exact-match anchor text risky?
Used once or twice, no. Repeated across many links to one page, yes, because that is the pattern Penguin was built to catch. Vary the phrase internally and let branded and naked-URL links make up most links from other sites.
Does the anchor text of a nofollow link matter?
Google treats nofollow as a hint and may or may not use the link. The anchor still matters to readers who click it, so write it descriptively. Paid and sponsored links should carry rel="sponsored" whatever the anchor says.
Should anchor text match the target page's title?
It should describe the same topic, not copy the title word for word. A title like "cPanel Hosting in India" is well served by anchors such as "cPanel hosting" or "hosting with cPanel".
How many links should one paragraph contain?
Usually one, rarely more than three. Several links in one sentence make each anchor harder to read and click on a phone, and dilute what the paragraph is recommending.
Last editorial update: 14 November 2026.
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