Anchor text

What does Google recommend for anchor text?

Anchor text sits between the <a> tags of a link. Google can only crawl a link that is an <a> element with an href attribute. Its guidance asks for text that is descriptive and concise, and warns against generic wording such as “click here” or “read more”, very long anchor text, and keyword stuffing. For linked images, the alt text of the image serves as the anchor text.

Google’s SEO Starter Guide adds that the text tells users and Google something about the page being linked to, and it applies this to internal links too.

Which types of anchor text exist?

SEO publications such as Yoast and Ahrefs commonly distinguish these types. The classification comes from the industry, not from Google.

• Branded: the name of a company or site
• Exact or partial match: the target keyword or a variation of it
• Generic: “here”, “learn more”
• Naked URL: the address itself
• Image link: the image’s alt text

For external links, Google’s documentation recommends the rel values nofollow, sponsored and ugc where they apply, for example for paid placements.

Example

<a href="/glossary/canonical-tag/">canonical tag explained</a>

Weaker would be <a href="/glossary/canonical-tag/">here</a>, because it tells neither readers nor screen readers where it leads.

FAQ

What is meant by anchor text? The visible text of a hyperlink.

What is the difference between anchor text and a hyperlink? The hyperlink is the whole link, including its destination. The anchor text is its visible, clickable text.

How long should anchor text be? Google gives no length. It should be short and tell readers what to expect.

Last updated: October 7, 2026