Text fragments are a browser feature introduced in Chrome 80.
If you’re trying to link to specific text on a page, you highlight it, then right-click and Copy link to highlight.
You’ll get a URL with the #:~: text fragment part.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/URI/Reference/Fragment/Text_fragments#:~:text=For%20example%2C%20in,effect%20this%20has.
It’s just a link structure.
Sygnal uses these often in external links to highlight the specific part of the page we're referencing in technical documents.
They can be used for internal links as well, if your pages are long and text-heavy.
SEO Benefits
It's unverified whether there are any SEO benefits to text fragments, but as a link formation they have the advantage of calling attention to specific text.
From an SEO perspective, you’re probably better to use anchor links with good H2 titles to improve your technical SEO.
Notes
What happens if the page does not contain the target text?
Browsers that support text fragments fallback gracefully, the same as if #bob did not exist as an ID in your page.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/URI/Reference/Fragment/Text_fragments
