Which Keywords Make The Best Anchor Text?

Writing by Nick Stamoulis Tweet

So you know you need anchor text and you know how to create links with anchor text. But how do you know which keywords to use for your anchor text as part of your on site optimization strategy?

There’s really no hard and fast rule. But I can give you some things to think about.

No. 1, if you think about your anchor text as a call to action, it’s a little easier. But the problem with using every link as a call to action is that you don’t always use the best keyword for the situation. However, if you get the click-through then it’s worth it, right?

Different links server different purposes. For instance, an affiliate link has a different reason for being than a link from one page to another on your website. Those internal links are for navigational purposes. The anchor text in those cases should be the most important keyword to describe the page being linked to.

Let’s say Page A on your site is about carburetors. Page B is about intake valves. You sell auto parts. Depending on the purpose of the link, your anchor text could read as any of the following:

• Learn more about intake valves
• Buy your intake valve here
• Intake valves
• Why your intake valve is rusty
• How to replace the intake valve

There are any number of other anchor texts you could use depending on what you want to accomplish with your page on intake valves and the anchor text leading to it, but you can see that the words and phrases you use serve as a call to action in many cases. If you just use a phrase like “intake valve” that doesn’t say much about what’s on the other side of that link. But if you use another phrase, one that describes what the link clicker will actually see when they arrive at their destination, then you’ll likely get more click-throughs. You’ll certainly get more qualified and targeted click-throughs.

If your link is an offsite link pointing into one of the pages of your site then you’ll need to decide whether you want to get the link juice for your important anchor text or if you want to go for the strong call to action. If possible, do both. But if you want the best anchor text link juice then use a keyword that is associated with the page being linked to. The best way to match keywords for anchor text is to ensure that your primary keyword is in your URL, the title of your page, and used throughout your page as well as anchor text for any inbound links.

There is a lot more that could be said for anchor text, but that’s a quick down and dirty in a nutshell.