Anchor Text

[bobnew32]

I have heard of anchors in html, but what is anchor text and why is it so important to google?

[MeditationMan]

It's text used in a link, and Google uses it to guess what the target page is about.

[WebMistress]

bobnew32,

more specifically, in a link to your site as follows:

<a href="http://www.widgets.com">Blue Widgets</a><br>
The Best darn blue widgets this side of the mississippi!

Blue Widgets is the anchor text (between <a> and </a>

And as stated above, it is what tells google what your site is about, thus it helps in search result rankings that are for the keywords "Blue Widgets"

[pshea]

Webmistress gave a very nice, simplified and direct definition of anchor text.

Note to Mods: Anchor Text is not currently included in the WebmasterWorld glossary.