Anchor Text Extractor Live

Paste HTML Source (full page, snippet, or just anchor tags)
HTML Input
Base Domain (for internal/external classification)
Focus Keyword (for exact/partial match detection)
Paste HTML above to extract anchors
Supports full page HTML, article snippets, or plain anchor tag lists.

About This Anchor Text Analyzer

What This Tool Analyzes

This tool parses any HTML input using the browser's native DOMParser and extracts every anchor tag. Each link is classified by type and analyzed for SEO signals. Results update live as you type — no page reload required.

  • 10 link types detected — internal, external, nofollow, sponsored, UGC, mailto, tel, fragment, JavaScript, and empty href
  • 8 anchor text types — exact match, partial match, branded, descriptive, generic, naked URL, image (alt text), and empty
  • Rel attribute detection — nofollow, sponsored, ugc, noopener, noreferrer
  • Security check — flags target="_blank" links missing rel="noopener"
  • Image link alt text check — identifies image links with missing or empty alt attributes
  • Focus keyword matching — detects exact and partial keyword matches in anchor text

How to Use This Tool

  • Get your page's HTML: in Chrome, right-click the page → View Page Source, then Ctrl+A → Ctrl+C to copy all
  • Paste the HTML into the input box — results appear instantly
  • Enter your domain in Base Domain (e.g. example.com) to correctly classify internal vs external links
  • Enter your target keyword in Focus Keyword to highlight exact and partial anchor text matches
  • Switch between the six result tabs: All Links, By Type, Anchor Analysis, Domains, SEO Audit, and Export
  • Use the filter bar and search box to drill into specific link categories
  • Export to CSV for spreadsheet tracking or JSON for programmatic use
  • Click Sample to load a demo HTML document and explore all features immediately

Anchor Text & Link Attributes — SEO Guide

Why Anchor Text Matters

Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. Google uses it as a contextual signal to understand the topic of the linked page. A page receiving many links with the anchor text "best SEO tools" gains strong relevance for that keyword. It is a key signal for both internal PageRank distribution and external backlink authority.

Anchor Text Types

Exact match — anchor text exactly matches the target keyword. High relevance but can appear manipulative if overused. Partial match — contains the keyword plus other words. Generic — "click here", "read more" — provides no keyword signal. Image — Google uses alt text as the anchor signal for image links.

Nofollow, Sponsored & UGC

rel="nofollow" tells Google not to pass PageRank. rel="sponsored" is required for paid or affiliate links — missing it on paid links violates Google's link scheme guidelines. rel="ugc" is for user-generated content like comments. All three are now treated as hints by Google rather than absolute directives.

Internal vs External Links

Internal links distribute PageRank across your site and help crawlers discover pages. Pages that receive more internal links tend to rank better. External links to authoritative sources enhance content credibility. Inbound external links (backlinks) with descriptive anchor text are one of the strongest ranking signals in SEO.

Anchor Text Analyzer FAQ

Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. Search engines like Google use anchor text as a contextual signal to understand the topic of the destination page. A page receiving many links with the anchor text "best SEO tools" gains strong relevance for that keyword. It is a critical signal for both internal linking (which distributes PageRank across your site) and external backlinks (which are among the strongest ranking factors). Historically one of the most heavily weighted signals, anchor text remains meaningful despite being diluted over time to prevent manipulation.

The main anchor text types are: Exact match — the anchor text exactly matches the target keyword (highly relevant but can appear manipulative if overused). Partial match — contains the keyword plus other words (more natural and safer). Branded — uses the brand or site name (natural and trustworthy). Naked URL — uses the raw URL as anchor text (common in citations). Generic — non-descriptive text like "click here" or "read more" (provides no keyword signal — replace with descriptive text). Image — the link wraps an image (Google uses the alt attribute as the anchor text signal). Empty — no anchor text at all (invisible and provides no signal to search engines or screen readers).

rel="nofollow" is the general-purpose directive telling Google not to pass PageRank through a link — introduced in 2005 for links you do not endorse. rel="sponsored" was introduced by Google in 2019 for paid, affiliate, or advertisement links. Missing this attribute on paid links violates Google's link scheme guidelines and can result in a manual penalty. rel="ugc" is for user-generated content such as blog comments, forum posts, or reviews. Since 2019, Google treats all three as hints rather than absolute directives — they may still pass some ranking signal in practice.

Internal links serve three key SEO functions: they help search engine crawlers discover new pages on your site, they distribute PageRank (link equity) from authoritative pages to lower-authority pages, and they signal topical relationships between pages. Pages that receive more internal links with descriptive anchor text tend to rank better for related keywords. A strong internal linking structure is one of the highest-leverage, fully-controllable SEO tactics — unlike external backlinks, which depend on other sites.

Links with target="_blank" that do not include rel="noopener" or rel="noreferrer" are vulnerable to reverse tabnapping. When a user clicks the link, the newly opened page gains access to the opener tab via window.opener, which allows a malicious page to redirect the original tab to a phishing page. Adding rel="noopener noreferrer" removes this access. Modern browsers have started applying noopener by default for _blank links, but explicit declaration is still recommended for full cross-browser compatibility and security best practice compliance.

To audit a page: (1) Right-click the page in Chrome → View Page Source → Ctrl+A → Ctrl+C to copy the full HTML. (2) Paste into the HTML input box above. (3) Enter your domain in Base Domain to correctly classify internal vs external links. (4) Enter your target keyword in Focus Keyword for exact/partial match detection. (5) Review the SEO Audit tab for actionable recommendations. (6) Check the Anchor Analysis tab for over-reliance on generic anchors, missing alt text on image links, and keyword match distribution. (7) Export to CSV for spreadsheet tracking over time or to share with clients.

When an anchor tag wraps an image with no alt attribute (or an empty alt), the link provides no anchor text signal to search engines. Google uses the image's alt attribute as the anchor text for image links. A link like <a href="/seo"><img src="banner.jpg" alt=""></a> is equivalent to an empty-anchor link — it passes no keyword relevance to the destination page. Always add descriptive alt text to images used as links so Google can process them as meaningful anchor signals. Missing alt text also violates WCAG accessibility guidelines, preventing screen reader users from understanding the link's purpose.