You Are Here: Home»SEO»What is the A HREF (Links / Anchor) Tag and Usage in SEO?
What is the A HREF (Links / Anchor) Tag and Usage in SEO?
Posted by :
Jason Posted date : June 12, 2013In SEO0
Rate this post
Q: And what is the AHREF?
Answer. As the Google search engine starter guide explains, you want to embed your keywords in the anchor tags. The anchor tag is also called the a href tag and what it does is allow for a clickable link from one webpage to another webpage, or from one website to another website.
So the first take away is as you build out your website know your keywords and cross link your webpages to each other around your 5 to 10 primary keywords. This is called link sculpting.
Embed Keywords in the Anchor Tag on Your Own Site
Secondly as you go and get links from other websites to your own website be aware of the anchor tag and its relationship to keywords. However, here is where it gets interesting! In the olden days prior to the Penguin update, I would have advised you to get a lot of links that have the keyword embedded in the anchor text. However, after the Penguin update, it is clear that Google penalizes websites that over optimize.
Beware of the Penguin Update!
So the third take away here is in terms of external websites solicit quality links, but do not overdo the use of keywords in the anchor tag. On your own website however, or in contrast, I do think it is still useful to sculpt those links around keywords
Got a question? Click this link to or call . is founder and Senior SEO / Social Media Director of the . He teaches the SEO training classes for the group, and therefore provides most of the SEO tips for this blog. His goal with this blog is to provide an easy 'one-stop shop' for the busy marketer looking for tips, tricks, and secrets on how to get to the top of Google and Bing for free using proven SEO tactics. When not dreaming up SEO tips, Dr. McDonald lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, two dogs, a cat, four iguanas and twelve children (just kidding). Really you read down to the bio on this guy? Enjoy the blog.
What is the A HREF (Links / Anchor) Tag and Usage in SEO?
Q: And what is the AHREF?
Answer. As the Google search engine starter guide explains, you want to embed your keywords in the anchor tags. The anchor tag is also called the a href tag and what it does is allow for a clickable link from one webpage to another webpage, or from one website to another website.
So the first take away is as you build out your website know your keywords and cross link your webpages to each other around your 5 to 10 primary keywords. This is called link sculpting.
Embed Keywords in the Anchor Tag on Your Own Site
Secondly as you go and get links from other websites to your own website be aware of the anchor tag and its relationship to keywords. However, here is where it gets interesting! In the olden days prior to the Penguin update, I would have advised you to get a lot of links that have the keyword embedded in the anchor text. However, after the Penguin update, it is clear that Google penalizes websites that over optimize.
Beware of the Penguin Update!
So the third take away here is in terms of external websites solicit quality links, but do not overdo the use of keywords in the anchor tag. On your own website however, or in contrast, I do think it is still useful to sculpt those links around keywords
About Jason