Anchor Text
The visible, clickable text of a hyperlink that provides context about the linked page's content to both users and search engines. Anchor text is a ranking signal that helps search engines understand what the destination page is about.
Anchor text tells search engines what to expect on the other end of a link. Descriptive, keyword-relevant anchor text reinforces the target page's topical relevance. Google uses anchor text from both internal and external links as a signal for understanding page content and determining ranking relevance.
For SEO strategy, anchor text optimization is important but requires balance. For internal links, use descriptive anchor text that naturally includes relevant keywords rather than generic text like "click here" or "read more." For external backlinks, a natural anchor text profile includes a mix of branded terms, exact-match keywords, partial-match keywords, and generic phrases. An unnatural concentration of exact-match keyword anchors in your backlink profile can trigger over-optimization penalties. Audit your anchor text distribution periodically to ensure it looks natural. For programmatic internal linking, create anchor text templates that vary naturally while maintaining topical relevance. The goal is helping both users and search engines understand link context without appearing manipulative.
Related Terms
Core Web Vitals
A set of three Google-defined metrics that measure real-world user experience for loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability. Core Web Vitals are a confirmed ranking factor in Google Search.
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)
A Core Web Vital that measures the time from page load start until the largest visible content element (image, video, or text block) is rendered on screen. Good LCP is 2.5 seconds or less.
Interaction to Next Paint (INP)
A Core Web Vital that measures the latency of all user interactions (clicks, taps, keyboard input) throughout the page lifecycle, reporting the worst interaction. Good INP is 200 milliseconds or less.
Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)
A Core Web Vital that measures the total amount of unexpected layout shifts that occur during a page's entire lifespan. Good CLS is 0.1 or less, where layout shifts are calculated from the impact and distance of moving elements.
Time to First Byte (TTFB)
The duration from the user's request to the first byte of the server response reaching the browser. TTFB measures server-side processing speed and network latency, directly impacting all subsequent loading metrics.
Crawl Budget
The number of pages a search engine bot will crawl on your site within a given timeframe, determined by crawl rate limit and crawl demand. Crawl budget optimization ensures important pages are discovered and indexed efficiently.