Google Webmaster Central has added new features which report on the anchor text (in phrase format) used to link to your site.

Why is anchor text, the text people use when linking to your site, important? Because it defines your site and is a very large part of the Google ranking algorithm. You will find that your site ranks higher for the anchor text terms it is linked to, than many other terms in your site’s content.

This is one reason why naming your site with relevant keyword phrases is very critical.

Other bloggers and site owners have a tendency to link to your site using its title more often than not, and titles like “Link Building Blog” and “Blog Search Engine” have those desired keyphrases to rank highly for in their names.

From the Google Webmaster Central Blog:

This information is useful, because it helps you know what others think your site is about. How sites link to you has an impact on your traffic from those links, because it describes your site to potential visitors. In addition, anchor text influences the queries your site ranks for in the search results.

Now we’ve enhanced the information we provide and will show you the complete phrases sites use to link to you, not just individual words. And we’ve expanded the number we show to 100.

By logging into webmaster tools, then accessing your site, going to Statistics > Page anaysis, you can find your anchor text phrase data.

The data can be viewed in a table or downloaded as a CSV file.

For more information, Danny Sullivan of Search Engine Land has an excellent write up on the Google Anchor Text Phrase tool.

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