Anchor text
Anchor text is the visible, clickable words in a link. The words you choose for internal links quietly shape how well your pages are understood.
It gives search engines and readers context about the page a link points to. This check looks at the anchor text across your internal links and flags the weak ones.
What this check flags
- Empty anchors: links with no text at all, often image links with no alt text.
- Generic anchors: vague text like "click here," "read more," or "this page," which describes nothing.
- Repetitive anchors: the exact same text used over and over for links to different pages, or unnatural over-use of one phrase.
Why anchor text matters for SEO
- It describes the target. Search engines use anchor text as a hint about what the linked page is about. Descriptive anchors reinforce a page's topic.
- It helps users. Clear link text tells readers where a link goes before they click.
- It aids accessibility. People using screen readers often navigate by pulling up a list of links, where "click here" out of context is meaningless.
What good anchor text looks like
- Descriptive: the words describe the destination, for example "on-page SEO checklist" rather than "click here."
- Concise: a few words is usually enough. A whole sentence as a link is hard to scan.
- Relevant to the target: the anchor should match what the linked page is actually about.
- Natural and varied: write anchors the way they read in a sentence. Do not paste the identical exact-match phrase into every link.
Anchor text the crawler reports
| Anchor type | Example | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Descriptive | "internal linking guide" | Good |
| Generic | "click here", "read more" | Weak, rewrite |
| Empty | a link with no text | Fix, add text or alt |
| Image link | an image used as a link | Needs alt text to describe it |
The anchor distribution
Beyond individual links, the crawler shows the distribution of your anchor text: how varied it is, and which phrases repeat. A healthy distribution is varied and descriptive. A distribution dominated by one exact phrase, or full of generic anchors, is a sign to diversify and clarify.
How to fix weak anchors
- Generic anchors: replace "click here" and "read more" with words that describe the target page.
- Empty anchors: add link text, or for image links, add descriptive alt text so the image link is labeled. See image alt text.
- Over-repeated anchors: vary the wording naturally so it does not read as manipulation.
How Crawlpit Monster reports it
Anchor text appears as an issue group on the dashboard, with the weak anchors flagged and an anchor distribution that shows how your link text is spread. Each page's detail view shows its outlinks and their anchor text, so you can find and rewrite the vague ones.
Common mistakes
- "Click here" everywhere, which wastes the strongest context signal a link carries.
- Forcing exact-match keywords into every internal anchor. Over-optimized, identical anchors read as unnatural. Descriptive and varied beats repetitive and exact.
- Image links with no alt text, which leave the link with no anchor text at all.
Frequently asked questions
Is "click here" bad for SEO?
It is a missed opportunity. It tells search engines and users nothing about the destination. Descriptive text is better in almost every case.
Should internal anchors be exact-match keywords?
Use descriptive, relevant text, but vary it naturally. Cramming the identical exact-match phrase into every link looks manipulative and is unnecessary internally.
Does internal anchor text carry as much weight as external?
It is a helpful context signal, though generally lighter than links from other sites. It is still worth getting right, because it is fully in your control.
What should an image link's anchor be?
Its alt text acts as the anchor. Give image links descriptive alt text so they are not empty.