Anchor text distribution describes the spread of clickable text across all the backlinks pointing at your site. When links are earned naturally, the mix tends to be dominated by your brand name, bare URLs, and generic phrases, with some descriptive anchors. A profile packed with the same commercial keyword is a classic sign of manipulated links.
Types of anchor text
SEO tools usually group anchors into a few categories. The names vary between tools, but the idea is the same.
- Branded: the company or product name, such as “Example SaaS”
- Naked URL: the address itself, such as example-saas.com
- Generic: “click here”, “this tool”, “read more”
- Exact match: the exact keyword a page targets, such as “invoice software”
- Partial match: a phrase that includes the keyword, such as “a simple invoice tool for freelancers”
- Image links: where the alt text of a linked image acts as the anchor
Why the mix matters
Google uses anchor text to understand what the destination page is about. That also made it easy to game: for years, building many links with the same keyword anchor could push a page up. Google's Penguin update in 2012 targeted that pattern, and since 2016 Penguin has run as part of the core algorithm, generally devaluing spammy links rather than demoting whole sites.
Google's spam policies still list keyword-rich anchors in guest posts, article campaigns, and widgets as examples of link schemes. There is no published “safe” percentage, and you should be wary of anyone who claims one.
Checking your distribution
Search Console's Links report lists the most common anchor text pointing at your site. Third-party tools give a fuller breakdown with counts per anchor and per referring domain. Look at the distribution per important page too, since one landing page with an unnatural pattern can stand out even if the site overall looks normal.
What to do with the findings
For earned links, there is usually nothing to do. You cannot and should not micromanage how others link to you. If you find a cluster of exact-match anchors from sites you do not recognize, investigate where they came from. If a past vendor built them, removing the ones you can and, in serious cases, disavowing the rest may be appropriate.
Where you do control the anchor, such as a partner's integration page, ask for descriptive text that matches the page rather than a bare keyword. “Slack integration for Example SaaS” helps readers and describes the page honestly.
Common mistakes
Requesting exact-match anchors in outreach
Asking every linking site to use the same keyword is the pattern Google's systems look for. Let writers describe you in their own words.
Following a fixed anchor ratio from a blog post
Ratios like “keep exact match under X percent” are guesses. Google has not published any threshold.
Questions
Google says it mostly ignores spammy links rather than penalizing for them, but a clear pattern of manipulated anchors can lead to a manual action. Either way, those links will not help.
Yes. Google uses internal anchor text to understand your pages, and you control it fully. Use descriptive anchors that say what the destination covers.
