Let’s focus on anchor text (internal) and the way it affects rankings. But, before we do that we need to cover the basics as we always do here at AZ Citations. There is no point in talking about details if we are not sure about the basics. The visible or in this case “clickable” text of a link is known as the anchor text. It is frequently highlighted in a contrasting color and set apart from the surrounding text. The point is to stand out. When a reader clicks on a link, they should know what they’re getting into. So, it needs to make sense. When creating a connection between pages, you must utilize anchor text (or one website to another website). The words “click here” in this case will be the anchor text since they are used to direct the reader to another page.
The importance of anchor text
How come anchor text is so crucial? Why are we even talking about it today? Search engines and users can benefit from the context provided by anchor text. If you click on the link, the label will tell you what you’ll see on the next page. In contrast, search engines utilize anchor text during the indexing and ranking processes of websites. But what if you are looking to update or modify old anchor texts on your older blogs or such? It is generally accepted that Google evaluates a website based on how a consumer would interact with it, including how easy or difficult it would be to use and how well the user would grasp the material. Therefore, it stands to reason that Google will benefit from anchor text that lets people comprehend the content of the linked page.
According to Google
We always have to think about Google. According to Google, even little adjustments to a site’s internal linking structure can have significant effects on its search engine rankings. We’re here to answer your queries such as, “Does it have any negative to updating the text of outdated internal links to assist users to comprehend them?” and “Can it affect the rankings?”. This is what people are usually afraid of. There is no point in changing anything if you will get any negative response.
The quick response to the questions above is a resounding “No.” That’s an excellent plan in fact. Rewriting internal anchor text so that it reads more naturally is frequently seen as a plus by search engines as well as human readers. They will have a better grasp of the background information on those pages. So, yes, that is something we would support. So why not simplify matters a little by using white-hat tactics? It’s fine to change the text itself, such as the writing, and the internal anchor from one text name to another.
What we are saying is…
We are not making any claims that changing link text would improve a site’s search engine rankings. To be clear, what we’re saying is that the search engine will better comprehend the context of said pages thanks to the anchor text. Once upon a time, it was generally accepted that the link text would have some bearing on how a given page was ranked in a search engine. More is needed to rank well now than keywords in anchors. This may be seen in the variety of sites that Google now ranks for almost any search term. While search engine optimizers (SEOs) consider anchor text to be an important ranking component, Google views it as merely one more signal among many that help determines the topic of a page.
These two interpretations of “internal anchor text” are complementary yet distinct. It can be viewed as either a “ranking factor” or a means of deducing the overall tone and purpose of a given page. Artists will occasionally use mirrors to take a look at their work. By shifting their viewpoint, they can spot flaws or errors that were previously hidden. Similarly, expanding your view of the material to include more than simply keywords for ranking will help you see the value of anchor text.If this is becoming a bit too much for you, you can always call us. We are not just here to help you with citation building. Helping with ranking and anchors is also a part of our job. But, before that, we have something to warn you about.
One thing you should avoid
Now, a piece of warning. Altering anchor text to an image is something we wouldn’t recommend doing. We have a good reason for it. You see, it is quite difficult for us to comprehend what the anchor text is intended to be if you convert a link (from a text link) to an image link and don’t have any textual kind of relationship with that image for the link. While aphorisms are often insightful, they do have their limits. Although it could be helpful to consumers in some cases, Google does not always approve of the practice of linking to images.
Do you understand now everything about anchors and what will happen if you change your old ones? Hopefully, we were of some help. As you can see it is advisable to do so and make things better. If you ever encounter an SEO expert that claims that anchor text is not an important part of your SEO strategy you should steer clear of them now that you know better.
