What is partial match anchor text?

A partial match anchor text is one of the different anchor texts you can use during link building. Many people do not know that there are almost ten different types of anchor texts that Google takes into account. It is important for your own anchor profile that all anchor texts are slightly different. For example, you might use an exact match anchor text, a branded anchor text or even a URL anchor text. Here we'll tell you more about a so-called partial match anchor text. What is it exactly? How do you apply it? And how effective is it? 

Definition of partial match anchor text 

What is partial match anchor text? If you know what an exact match anchor text is, it is easy to understand. With an exact match you choose the exact keywords you want to rank for in the search results. This is an exact match with the results of your own keyword research. With a partial match anchor text this is different. The anchor text only partially matches the keywords you want to use. This means that the word can be made longer or shorter. For example, to make the sentence flow more smoothly or because a blogger has put it in a slightly different way. This does not have to be a problem. A partial match anchor text is also read by the Google crawlers and contributes to a natural link profile. 

So a partial match anchor text is actually an anchor text that only partially matches the keywords you want to score on. For a natural link profile, it is important that you use both partial match anchor texts and exact match anchor texts. This way your position within Google will be much stronger and you will be less likely to have Google question the amount of links pointing to your page. 

How do you apply a partial match anchor text? 

Before a partial match anchor text can be created at all, you first have to know for which keywords you want to score. Therefore, before you start link building, it is always important to do a thorough keyword research. You can do this yourself, but you can also leave it to a search engine marketing specialist. This way you know exactly which words you can rank for and which are applicable to your company. These keywords can then be used to compose the right anchor text. With a partial match anchor text a part of it is used. 

For example, if you want to rank for the keyword: 'search engine marketing optimisation', then this can be changed to: 'need help with search engine marketing optimization'. A part of the keyword is used, but it is incorporated in a longer sentence.