Optimising Anchor Text: A Practical Guide for Link Building

Quick highlights

• Balance your anchors: brand first, then descriptive and partial match, with limited exact match

• Prioritise human readability and page relevance over keyword stuffing

• Use data from tools and your own SERP checks to shape your targets

• Track changes quarterly and adjust distribution as your site profile evolves

• Avoid manipulative patterns that look unnatural or repetitive

---

If you care about sustainable link building, you need a smart plan for anchor text. Many teams ask what is anchor text and then jump straight to stuffing keywords into every outreach email. That is how profiles become lopsided, rankings wobble, and manual actions arrive. This guide shows you how to set the right distribution, how to do anchor text analysis, and how to turn insights into a practical acquisition plan that lasts.

What is anchor text?

Anchor text is the clickable text in a hyperlink. It helps users understand where a link points and gives search engines additional context. Not all anchors are equal. The wording, variety and placement influence how natural your profile looks and how confidently a page can rank for a topic.

The main anchor types to know

• Branded anchor: your brand or product name, such as “Digitally Unique”. Natural, safe, and perfect for homepage and top-level pages.

• URL or naked: the visible URL, for example “example.co.uk/page”.

• Generic: phrases like “click here”, “this site”, “website”.

• Partial match: includes a variation of your target phrase, such as “guide to anchor text distribution”.

• Exact match anchor text: precisely matches the main keyword like “anchor text distribution”.

• Rich anchor text: expanded, descriptive anchors that combine keywords with context, for example “download our anchor text analysis checklist”. These read like copy rather than SEO bait.

Each has a job. Together they should form a pattern that looks like real people linking for real reasons.

Why distribution matters

Search engines evaluate not only the number and quality of links but also the language surrounding them. A natural profile reflects how the web cites brands: lots of brand mentions, some URLs, context-rich references, and only occasional exact phrases. If you rely too heavily on exact match anchors or repeat the same wording site after site, you create bad anchor text patterns that suggest manipulation.

Google’s guidance on link schemes makes it clear that unnatural links and optimised anchors can cause issues. It is worth revisiting the official wording to calibrate your risk tolerance. See Google Search Central’s documentation on link spam and link schemes for details and examples.

A sensible starting benchmark

There is no universal percentage that fits every niche. Competitive intent, brand strength and historical profile all influence your targets. As a rule of thumb for many UK brands targeting commercial terms:

• Branded + URL + generic: 60 to 80 percent combined

• Partial match and topic-rich: 15 to 30 percent

• Exact match anchor text: 0 to 10 percent, leaning lower for new sites

This is not a law. It is a starting point you should refine by studying what already ranks in your vertical.

How to shape your targets with competitive data

1. Pick the top 5 to 10 ranking pages for your target term.

2. Gather anchor samples using your preferred tool. Many teams use ahrefs for a fast snapshot of referring domains, anchors and link growth.

3. Group anchors into the categories above.

4. Calculate rough distributions for each competitor and for your own page.

5. Look for outliers. If every top result carries minimal exact match but lots of branded and rich anchors, treat that as your operating range.

This is anchor text analysis in practice. You are defining what looks normal in your niche, not chasing a mythical magic percentage.

Deploying anchors by page type

Different pages deserve different anchors.

HomepageLean heavily on branded and URL anchors. Journalists and partners tend to cite the brand, which mirrors natural behaviour.

Category and hub pages

Use a mix of branded, partial match and topic-rich anchors. You are signalling relevance without banging the same drum. For instance, “compare enterprise link building services” or “guide to digital PR tactics”.

Deep content and guides

Favour rich anchor text that reads like editorial copy. Think “study into anchor text risks”, “step-by-step distribution template”, or “research on link building safety”. Sprinkle a very small number of exact matches if competitors safely hold some.

Product and commercial pages

Keep exact matches conservative and lean on brand plus descriptive variants. Reviews, roundups and resource pages often give you natural contexts, which reduces risk.

Crafting anchors that humans like

Search engines have become very good at recognising whether wording makes sense in context. Write anchors that would survive an editor’s red pen.

• Keep anchors short but meaningful.

• Match the promise of the landing page.

• Avoid repeating the same three-word phrase everywhere.

• Vary nearby context, not just the anchor. Surrounding text helps.

If a sentence feels robotic, it probably is. Rewrite it so a reader would want to click.

Handling legacy issues and bad anchor text

What if a historic campaign overused exact match anchors? Do three things.

1. Dilute with new branded and topical links to the same page.

2. Update your outreach templates so future links favour variety.

3. Review toxic placements. If a link sits on a spammy site with an over-optimised anchor, ask for a change to a branded or URL version. If that fails and the domain is clearly low quality, consider pruning.

The objective is balance, not panic removals.

Building a quarterly anchor plan

A simple cadence keeps you honest.

• Quarter 1: Branded and URL anchors to strengthen trust signals, particularly to the homepage and key hubs.

• Quarter 2: Partial match and rich anchor text that expands your topical footprint across guides, case studies and PR pieces.

• Quarter 3: Fill gaps. If a page lacks descriptive anchors, target editorial placements that naturally reference its subtopics.

• Quarter 4: Light touch exact matches only where competitor data supports them, coupled with internal linking updates that reinforce context.

That rhythm avoids over-optimisation spikes and smooths growth.

Internal linking is part of distribution

Your internal links also shape how a page is understood. Use varied anchors across menus, breadcrumbs and in-body links. Descriptive phrases are fine, but rotate them. This is a low-risk area to strengthen relevance while keeping your external anchors more conservative.

If you want expert help building the strategy and doing the graft, explore our link building services. We combine competitive research, quality placement and careful anchor planning.

Measurement that actually helps

Track three things and you will not go far wrong.

1. Distribution by page: percentage share across anchor types, updated monthly.

2. SERP movement: rankings and clicks for target pages, matched to link acquisition dates.

3. Quality indicators: referring domain diversity, topical fit, traffic health and indexation status of linking pages.

   
   

If numbers drift, correct early. A dashboard from your analytics suite plus exports from tools such as Ahrefs makes this quick to monitor.

Practical examples of safer anchors

• Branded: “Digitally Unique has a full breakdown”

• URL: “digitallyunique.com/services” within body copy

• Generic: “read the research”

• Partial: “anchor text distribution template”

• Rich: “in-depth anchor text analysis of UK e-commerce niches”

• Exact: “anchor text distribution” used sparingly on a standout editorial placement

These read like normal writing. That is precisely the point.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Chasing a fixed global percentage you read in an old blog post

• Using exact match anchors on every guest article

• Repeating the same partial match across multiple domains in a short window

• Ignoring the anchor mix used by the pages you are trying to outrank

• Pointing every powerful link at the homepage without strategic reason

Final checks before you ship

Ask these questions for every outreach win:

• Does the anchor fit the sentence and the page’s promise?

• Is the wording a duplicate of several recent placements?

• Will this link still look sensible a year from now?

• Does my current page-level distribution support adding this anchor type today?

If you cannot answer yes to the first and last questions, change the wording.

Anchor text will never be the star of your campaign, yet it quietly determines how safe and effective your links become. Lead with brand, earn variety, use exact match anchor text with restraint, and keep anchor text analysis on a steady cadence. Do that and your profile will look like it belongs in your niche, not like it is trying to game it.