{"id":15102,"date":"2020-01-27T09:52:38","date_gmt":"2020-01-27T15:52:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/?p=15102"},"modified":"2021-04-13T13:33:10","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T18:33:10","slug":"what-is-anchor-text-seo-best-practices-for-links","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/what-is-anchor-text-seo-best-practices-for-links\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Anchor Text: SEO Best Practices for Links"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\r\n<article class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-beige has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-772205c6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained is-style-beige--1\" style=\"padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)\">\r\n<header class=\"wp-block-group c-breadcrumbs aligngrid has-global-padding is-content-justification-left is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-61973aa6 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\">\r\n<header class=\"wp-block-group aligngrid is-content-justification-left is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-d68226ec wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)\">\r\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\" style=\"margin-bottom:5px\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/mediavine-dev.d1.moderntribe.qa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/chevron-left2.svg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-542\" style=\"aspect-ratio:9\/16;object-fit:contain;width:auto;height:20px\"\/><\/figure>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<p class=\"is-style-small is-style-small--2\"><a href=\"\/blog\/\">Back to Blog<\/a><\/p>\r\n<\/header>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity aligngrid\" style=\"margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0\"\/>\r\n<\/header>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull is-style-default has-neutral-20-background-color has-background has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--70);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\"><div class=\"aligncenter aligncenter wp-block-tribe-terms\"><ul class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__list\"><li class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__term\"><span class=\"wp-block-tribe-terms__link t-category\">SEO<\/span><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\r\n\r\n<h1 style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--10);\" class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-post-title\">What is Anchor Text: SEO Best Practices for Links<\/h1>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-content-justification-center is-nowrap is-layout-flex wp-container-core-group-is-layout-9b38c6d9 wp-block-group-is-layout-flex\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);margin-bottom:0;padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\"><div style=\"margin-bottom:0;margin-top:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-post-author-name\">Eric Hochberger<\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n<p>\u2022<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0;padding-left:0;padding-right:0;margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;\" class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-post-date has-10-font-size\"><time datetime=\"2020-01-27T09:52:38-06:00\">January 27, 2020<\/time><\/div><\/div>\r\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group alignfull has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"padding-top:0;padding-bottom:0\">\n<p>You know those words that appear in an html hyperlink, a.k.a. the link text between the opening &lt;a&gt; and closing &lt;\/a&gt;?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s called the anchor text and it matters quite a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p>Anchor text is critical for user experience, site accessibility and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/optimizing-your-most-valuable-content\/\">SEO (Search Engine Optimization)<\/a> alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the time, the term &#8220;anchor text&#8221; is used in an SEO context, but user experience and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/six-ways-to-make-your-website-more-accessible\/\">site accessibility<\/a> are equally important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Why? Because that&#8217;s ultimately what drove the decision to make anchor text such an important ranking signal for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/the-ultimate-easy-seo-checklist\/\">SEO<\/a>, which in turn should help you create better anchor text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s all intertwined and we&#8217;ll break it down below in a new episode of my new YouTube series <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=nNzby3AtIRk&amp;list=PLVy2vgUysJwvlM50_s5UlEJ4ZlqSQ27fA\">SEO Like A CEO<\/a>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"video-responsive\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/T5lUzix2qlk\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-does-anchor-text-have-to-do-with-user-experience\">What Does Anchor Text Have to Do with User Experience?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>From a user experience standpoint, there are basically two kinds of anchor text:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>Good anchor text <\/em><\/li><li><em>Bad anchor text<\/em><\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Put yourself in the shoes of a casual reader instead of one who is thoroughly reading all content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Can you quickly look at the anchor text and know where that link is taking you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If it&#8217;s linked on words like &#8220;click here,&#8221; or the URL itself, then probably not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Example: Which anchor text below best shows what I&#8217;m linking to?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Featured Video Playlists<\/li><li>Mediavine<\/li><li>https:\/\/bit.ly\/2PzqRns<\/li><li>Click Here<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>All four link to the same page, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/featured-video-playlists-an-easy-path-to-major-revenue-growth\/\">Featured Video Playlists<\/a>. While this is a slightly exaggerated example, we hope it&#8217;s clear that #1 is good and #2-4 leave a little something to be desired (or a lot).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here&#8217;s the thing, though: In the past, SEO experts might have actually recommended options 2-4 as well. As far as user experience goes however, 2-4 are a mystery to the user and may end up disappointing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Long story short: Make it easy for users and you&#8217;ll improve their experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"735\" height=\"1102\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mediavine-Pins-with-Photos-1.png\" alt=\"Mediavine Pinterest Image - How to use anchor text: The text you use for hyperlink is critical for SEO, user experience and site accessibility. Learn why in this blog post!\" class=\"wp-image-15908\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mediavine-Pins-with-Photos-1.png 735w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mediavine-Pins-with-Photos-1-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Mediavine-Pins-with-Photos-1-307x460.png 307w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 735px) 100vw, 735px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-does-anchor-text-help-with-accessibility\">How Does Anchor Text Help with Accessibility?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Back to cryptic links 2-4 above: Playing choose-your-own-adventure with users is bad enough, but imagine if they&#8217;re visually impaired and need links read aloud. That&#8217;s why <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/what-is-website-accessibility\/\">website accessibility<\/a> is so important.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Screen readers, by default, will read the anchor text unless you provide an ARIA label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This means anchor text is vitally important to those users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The majority of users might not be using screen readers or text-to-speech, but those who do will have a harder time piecing together the context around the link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They desperately need anchor text that leaves as little to chance as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-anchor-text-and-seo\">Anchor Text and SEO<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>This is likely why you&#8217;re here \u2014 to learn how to write anchor text for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/what-is-seo-introducing-the-mediavine-search-engine-optimization-series\/\">SEO<\/a> and how that influences rankings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/mediavine-presented-with-two-awards-at-google-certified-publishing-partner-summit-2019\/\">Google<\/a> crawls your website, it behaves much like a user. In other words, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/the-art-of-giving-and-receiving-backlinks\/\">links guide the way<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Google uses anchor text, along with many other signals, to figure out <em>both the content you&#8217;re linking to and the page you&#8217;re linking from<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The official <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/webmasters\/answer\/7451184?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Google SEO Starter Guide<\/a>&nbsp;offers four pieces of advice when writing anchor text, or link text:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Choose descriptive text<\/strong>. The text you&#8217;re linking on should describe the page you&#8217;re linking to. Simple. Do NOT tell users to &#8220;click here.&#8221;<\/li><li><strong>Write concise text<\/strong>. Keep anchor text to just a few words or a short phrase, NOT a whole sentence or paragraph.<\/li><li><strong>Format links so they&#8217;re easy to spot<\/strong>. This is more of a design or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/ad-friendly-website-redesign\/\">theme consideration<\/a>, and not always an exact science, but the more obvious links are to the user \u2014 underlined, different color than the text, etc. \u2014 the more effective they are.<\/li><li><strong>Think of anchor text as it relates to internal links, too<\/strong>. External links pointed toward your content are obviously a key focal point, but this advice applies and helps with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/internal-links-pagerank-and-simple-seo-you-can-control\/\">internal links<\/a> as well.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Google Anchor Text Advice Summary: Link on short, descriptive text for whatever you&#8217;re linking to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-anchor-text-and-the-seo-rumor-mill\">Anchor Text and the SEO Rumor Mill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><em>&#8220;Okay, but I read from [insert alleged SEO expert on the Internets] that since Panda, I need to diversify my link text.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yes, other SEO blogs frequently talk about different types of anchor text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You&#8217;ll often see Exact Match, Branded, Partial Match, Naked and Generic Anchors, each of which we&#8217;ll break down below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Exact Match<\/strong> anchor text links on EXACTLY the <a href=\"https:\/\/help.mediavine.com\/en\/articles\/93023-mediavine-guide-to-choosing-the-right-keyword-for-you\">keyword or key phrase<\/a> you&#8217;re going after. For this article, that would be linking to this post on the phrase &#8220;anchor text.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Partial Match<\/strong> anchor text is just as the name implies, a partial match of the keyword you&#8217;re writing. Here, that might mean linking to this post on a phrase like &#8220;anchor&#8221; or &#8220;link text.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Naked<\/strong> is just using the link itself. e.g. &#8220;https:\/\/bit.ly\/2PzqRns&#8221; &#8230; not great for SEO or for user experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Branded links<\/strong> are links to a brand or website name. For this article, it would be linking on &#8220;Mediavine.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Generic links<\/strong> are using phrases like &#8220;click here&#8221; or &#8220;learn more.&#8221; You already know how we feel about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-30377\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-320x320.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-100x100.jpg 100w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-768x768.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-1170x1169.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-375x375.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-800x799.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-250x250.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-175x175.jpg 175w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-370x370.jpg 370w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-229x229.jpg 229w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-187x187.jpg 187w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-335x335.jpg 335w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-347x347.jpg 347w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-520x520.jpg 520w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01-640x640.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/what-is-anchor-text-graphic-01.jpg 1460w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>SEO sites may advise you to use a variety of these to make things look &#8220;natural&#8221; and even break down percentages of how many you should use from each category. However, Google flat out asks you not to use naked or generic links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We&#8217;d strongly recommend you do NOT use them, at all. Stick to exact and partial match anchor text, especially for internal links.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Most of the algorithm changes in Panda cited by these SEO sites is related to combatting spam, or link abuse. Generally, the idea is to stop unnatural links pointed towards your site from an external source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, if you bought links, more than likely you&#8217;d pay a service who would place all links to your site using the same text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-four-simple-words-do-not-buy-links\"><strong>FOUR SIMPLE WORDS: DO. NOT. BUY. LINKS.<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Assuming your well-intentioned, white-hat SEO efforts do not include buying links, then more than likely, this rule doesn&#8217;t apply to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In fact, if you&#8217;re just worried about the anchor text you use when linking to internal articles and the occasional external page, then it&#8217;s safe to ignore any &#8220;expert&#8221; SEO advice and stick to the SEO advice Google provides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>In summary, make your anchor text good, clear and concise. Include your keywords and as little else as possible.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It&#8217;s also important to note that both partial and exact keywords are good to link on. Google is smart. Google uses machine learning to read the text around your links and establish the proper &#8220;context.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So if your anchor text doesn&#8217;t 100% match the keyword of the page you&#8217;re linking to don&#8217;t worry. Your anchor text can use partial keywords as long as the other important words appear nearby for context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Put another way, don&#8217;t stress about shoehorning awkward link text into your content if it hurts the readability of your post. High quality content is still the highest priority. Google will figure it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just relax, take a deep breath and whenever possible try to use the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/keyword-prominence\/\">keyword<\/a>, or as close as you can, when you link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>To keep up with Mediavine&#8217;s SEO Like A CEO series, please subscribe to <a href=\"http:\/\/youtube.com\/mediavine\">our YouTube Channel<\/a>. Don&#8217;t miss these other <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/mediavines-seo-resources\/\">SEO resources<\/a> from our blog and help docs.&nbsp;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<section class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0\">\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-09aec4f2 wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--40);padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-right:0;padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--60)\">\r\n<p class=\"is-style-small is-style-small--3\">About the author<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n<div style=\"margin-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--20);\" class=\"wp-block-post-author\"><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__avatar\"><img alt='' src='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/152dc08941c75895b80ffc4d0f79236a870658434ec66e25f227ffe962e70114?s=96&#038;d=blank&#038;r=g' srcset='https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/152dc08941c75895b80ffc4d0f79236a870658434ec66e25f227ffe962e70114?s=192&#038;d=blank&#038;r=g 2x' class='avatar avatar-96 photo' height='96' width='96' \/><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-post-author__content\"><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__name\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/author\/eric\/\" target=\"_self\">Eric Hochberger<\/a><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-post-author__bio\"><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<div class=\"wp-block-group has-global-padding is-layout-constrained wp-container-core-group-is-layout-7c04bf6b wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\" style=\"margin-top:0\">\r\n<p class=\"is-style-small is-style-small--4\">Share this page<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<ul class=\"wp-block-outermost-social-sharing has-normal-icon-size has-icon-color is-style-logos-only 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class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"woman concentrating on her laptop in a workspace\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-1024x582.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-320x182.jpeg 320w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-768x436.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-1536x872.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-2048x1163.jpeg 2048w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-1170x664.jpeg 1170w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-375x213.jpeg 375w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-800x454.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-569x323.jpeg 569w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-353x200.jpeg 353w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-288x164.jpeg 288w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-335x190.jpeg 335w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-347x197.jpeg 347w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-520x295.jpeg 520w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-640x363.jpeg 640w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-960x545.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/AdobeStock_443672686-1080x613.jpeg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__primary-category t-category\">SEO<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"c-post-card__title t-display-xx-small t-transparent-underline\">Should I Republish Content? There&#8217;s a Better Way<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-author t-body-small\">Eric Hochberger<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-separator t-body-small\">\u2022<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-date t-body-small\">Oct 21, 2021<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__excerpt\">Back to Blog \u2022 Whether it&#8217;s for SEO or monetization purposes, we always encourage publishers to update old content. We&#8217;ve discussed at length how specifically to update content to improve RPM and optimize for SEO, but today we\u2019re focusing on a specific and surprisingly controversial aspect. How to handle the modified and published date may&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/should-i-republish-content-theres-a-better-way\/\" class=\"c-post-card__link-overlay\" aria-label=\"Read more about Should I Republish Content? There&#8217;s a Better Way\"><\/a>\n<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"c-post-card c-post-card__layout-vertical\">\n\t<div class=\"c-post-card__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__image aspect-ratio-cover aspect-ratio-3-2\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-1024x682.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"man standing up using a desktop computer\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-2048x1364.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-1170x779.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-375x250.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-555x370.jpg 555w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-344x229.jpg 344w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-281x187.jpg 281w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-335x223.jpg 335w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-347x231.jpg 347w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-520x346.jpg 520w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-640x426.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/SEO-Like-a-Slab-of-Beef-04-1080x719.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__primary-category t-category\">Mediavine<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"c-post-card__title t-display-xx-small t-transparent-underline\">SEO is a Garden a.k.a. The Parboil Strikes Back<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-author t-body-small\">Eric Hochberger<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-separator t-body-small\">\u2022<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-date t-body-small\">Oct 11, 2021<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__excerpt\">Back to Blog \u2022 Today on the Mediavine blog, we&#8217;re throwing it back to 2017, famously known to SEO experts across the web as the Year of the Parboil. It was never actually known as such, of course, but an experiment from back then remains instructive and shapes our SEO strategies today. A blog post&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/seo-is-a-garden\/\" class=\"c-post-card__link-overlay\" aria-label=\"Read more about SEO is a Garden a.k.a. The Parboil Strikes Back\"><\/a>\n<\/article>\n\t\t\t\t\t<article class=\"c-post-card c-post-card__layout-vertical\">\n\t<div class=\"c-post-card__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__image aspect-ratio-cover aspect-ratio-3-2\">\n\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"woman looking at her laptop sitting on the couch\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-320x213.jpg 320w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-375x250.jpg 375w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-555x370.jpg 555w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-344x229.jpg 344w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-281x187.jpg 281w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-335x223.jpg 335w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-347x231.jpg 347w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-520x346.jpg 520w, https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/woman-looking-at-her-laptop-sitting-on-the-couch-640x426.jpg 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"c-post-card__content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__primary-category t-category\">SEO<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"c-post-card__title t-display-xx-small t-transparent-underline\">Should You Delete Content or Just Stop Linking? An SEO Dilemma<\/h3>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata-readtime\">8 minutes<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__metadata\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-author t-body-small\">Eric Hochberger<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-separator t-body-small\">\u2022<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"c-post-card__metadata-date t-body-small\">Jul 13, 2021<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"c-post-card__excerpt\">Back to Blog \u2022 If you&#8217;re a new blogger, bookmark this and come back in a few years. But if you&#8217;ve been blogging for awhile, you may have already asked yourself this SEO question: Should you delete content that&#8217;s old and\/or not doing a lot for you? Looking for a quick answer? Sorry. We&#8217;re going&#8230;<\/p>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediavine.com\/blog\/should-you-delete-content-or-just-stop-linking\/\" class=\"c-post-card__link-overlay\" aria-label=\"Read more about Should You Delete Content or Just Stop Linking? An SEO Dilemma\"><\/a>\n<\/article>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/aside>\r\n<\/div>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back to Blog \u2022 You know those words that appear in an html hyperlink, a.k.a. the link text between the opening &lt;a&gt; and closing &lt;\/a&gt;? That&#8217;s called the anchor text and it matters quite a lot. You know those words that appear in an html hyperlink, a.k.a. the link text between the opening &lt;a&gt; and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7848,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17,93],"tags":[],"audience_post":[],"class_list":["post-15102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-seo","category-seo-like-a-ceo"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>What is Anchor Text: SEO Best Practices for Links - Mediavine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What is anchor text? 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