Pink PostWhat anchor text is
Anchor text is the clickable text of a link. Search engines use it as a hint about what the linked page is about. A link with the anchor "email deliverability guide" tells Google more than one that says "click here". Google's own SEO starter guide asks site owners to write descriptive anchor text for this reason.
What to use this checker for
- Audit a prospect page before you pitch: how many outbound links does it have, are they all nofollow or sponsored, does it link to competitors?
- Verify a link you won: check the anchor and rel are what you agreed. For one domain, the backlink checker is faster.
- Review your own internal linking: find vague anchors, or important pages getting few internal links.
- Find empty anchors: image links without alt text pass no anchor signal.
follow, nofollow, sponsored and ugc
| rel value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| (none) / follow | A normal link. Can pass ranking signals. |
| nofollow | A hint not to pass ranking credit. Google treats it as a hint, not a rule. |
| sponsored | Paid or affiliate links. Google asks publishers to mark paid links this way. |
| ugc | User-generated content such as comments and forum posts. |
What this tool can and cannot see
It reads the HTML the server returns. Links added later by JavaScript, links behind a login and pages that block automated requests will not appear. It checks one page at a time; to see the anchor profile of all links pointing to your site, export them from a backlink tool or Search Console and paste the anchors into the anchor text ratio calculator.