What anchor text is
Anchor text is the text between the opening and closing <a> tags of a link. In <a href="/pricing">see our pricing</a> the anchor text is "see our pricing". For an image link, the image's alt text plays the same role.
Search engines use anchor text as a strong hint about the topic of the target page, which is why descriptive anchors help both internal and external links.
Types of anchor text
Exact match uses the target keyword ("rank tracker"). Partial match includes it with other words ("an affordable rank tracker for agencies"). Branded uses the brand name ("RareMatter"). Naked URLs show the address ("example.com"). Generic anchors say "click here" or "read more", and image anchors rely on alt text.
A natural backlink profile mixes all of these. A profile dominated by exact-match commercial anchors looks manipulated and is the pattern Google's link spam systems target.
Best practices
For internal links, use short descriptive anchors that tell the reader what they will get, and vary them naturally. Avoid "click here" for important pages. Do not stuff keywords into anchors, and do not point many different anchors at the wrong page.
Audit links regularly: anchors pointing at deleted pages become broken links, and links marked nofollow pass less signal.
Example
Good and weak anchors:
<!-- Descriptive -->
<a href="/learn/canonical-tag">how canonical tags work</a>
<!-- Weak: no context -->
<a href="/learn/canonical-tag">click here</a>