🔗 How to Change Anchor Text in All Website Posts by Using a Plugin

📘 Updating a specific link text can be tedious. If you’ve ever tried, you understand the effort it takes to do it manually. For example, changing every “Read More” to something more descriptive can be challenging. A task like “Continue Reading the Full Article” requires a lot of time. The Better Search Replace plugin provides a quick solution. It offers a safe way to perform mass find-and-replace tasks across your WordPress database.

This guide will walk you through using the plugin to update anchor text sitewide. You will not need to touch code or edit posts one by one. Note: Make sure to back up your website database before changing the anchor text. Below is the plan that I want to change.

🛠️ Steps to Change Anchor Text Using Better Search Replace

1. Install and Activate the Plugin

1. From your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
2. Search for Better Search Replace.
3. Click Install Now, then Activate the plugin.

2. Go to the Plugin Interface

• Navigate to Tools > Better Search Replace.

3. Prepare Your Search and Replace Strings

• In the field search, enter the exact anchor text or HTML snippet you want to replace.
  👉 Example: enter got
• In the Replace with field, enter the updated version.
  👉 Example: enter kh

4. Select the Correct Database Tables

• Scroll down to select tables like the above picture and choose wp_posts. This is where WordPress stores your post and page content.

5. Run a Dry Run First (Highly Recommended)

• Uncheck the “Run as dry run?” box.
• Click Run Search/Replace.
• This will show you how many changes would be made without actually applying them—perfect for verifying everything looks right.

6. Run the Actual Replacement

• Once you’ve verified the results, uncheck the dry run box.
• Click Run Search/Replace again to apply the changes.

7. Double-Check Your Posts

• Open a few posts to confirm the anchor text has been successfully updated.

✅ Wrapping Up

That’s it! You’ve just performed a mass anchor text replacement across your entire WordPress site using Better Search Replace. It’s a powerful, efficient tool for quick content updates—ideal for rebranding, SEO improvements, or tightening up your internal linking strategy.

💡 Looking for Another Method?

If you want a more visual, content-focused approach, you can try the Search & Replace Everything plugin by WPCode. This is especially useful if you’re not comfortable with HTML. The plugin offers a user-friendly interface and preview options. It’s great for beginners and allows precise control over different content types.