Anchor text

Anchor text is the clickable text in a link. It is one of the stronger tools you have in SEO, because search engines give it real weight. A link points to another page, and its anchor text tells the search engine what that page is about. So always use your important keywords as anchor text.

Anchor text and Google

We see anchor text mistakes on almost every site. A web shop links to its products with 'more info', or a page says 'click here' to get in touch.
Google uses the words in anchor text as a strong hint about what the linked page covers. With text like that, you tell Google the wrong story and confuse it yourself. Google now thinks your product is about 'more info' and your contact page is about 'click here'. That is a waste of a good page. Use relevant, specific keywords in your anchor text instead.

Be creative and vary your anchor text

Because Google counts anchor text in its ranking algorithm, you can use it to rank better for the keywords that matter to you. A top position is not always realistic, though, for example when a keyword is very competitive. In that case it pays to be creative. Instead of linking to this page with the anchor text 'anchor text', we could pick a less competitive phrase such as 'how to use anchor text'.
A bonus is that visitors get a clearer idea of what the page is about. That probably means a higher click-through rate (on a lower search volume).

Anchor text in internal and external links

All of this applies to internal links (links within your own site) and to external links (links from other sites to yours). When someone offers to link to you, ask for a relevant, specific anchor text rather than just your site name.