Anchor text is the clickable text of a link. \"Complete guide to choosing hosting\" inside a link is the anchor text. Anchor text is crucial for SEO because Google reads it to understand what the linked page is about and uses it to rank for those keywords. But a wrong anchor strategy is the clearest sign of artificial link building and leads to a penalty.
Types of anchor text
Exact Match β exact match of your target keyword. \"choosing hosting\". A strong signal but also a sign of artificiality.
Partial Match β partial match. \"how to choose hosting\". Natural and strong. Branded β your brand name. The most natural. Naked URL β the bare site address. Generic β \"here\", \"read more\". Image β link via an image, alt acts as anchor.
Natural anchor distribution
The big mistake is \"if exact match is strong, I'll make everything exact match\". Penguin will detect that immediately. A natural profile mixes many types: mostly branded or naked URL, very little exact match.
Natural distribution: 50% branded, 25% generic and naked URL, 15% partial match, 10% exact match. Natural because most people link to you by brand, not by keyword. 70% exact match is instantly artificial.
Google Penguin and over-optimization
Google has used Penguin since 2012 β it punishes anchor over-optimization. If most of your backlinks use exact match, Penguin flags \"artificial\" and hits ranking.
Example: 100 links to your \"choosing hosting\" page, 70 with anchor \"choosing hosting\". Google immediately calls it artificial. A natural profile is 10-15 exact match with the rest in other forms.
Anchor strategy for new sites
For a new site, the first 3-6 months β mostly branded and naked URL. Signal to Google \"this site grows naturally, users know the brand\".
Then gradually add partial match and generic. Exact match only after 6 months and in small doses β 5-10%. Strategy called \"slow burn\".
Competitor anchor analysis
Studying competitors' anchor distribution is useful. Ahrefs \"Anchors\" shows all anchor texts. Analyse the top 5 competitors and compute average proportions. Your goal β match that natural average.
If a competitor runs at 60% branded and your strategy is 60% branded β Google sees a \"normal site\". At 90% exact match β instantly artificial.
Anchor for internal links
Internal links are also counted. You fully control them and Google takes a keyword signal from them. Exact match is safe internally β it's your own site.
For example, in a blog post \"detailed hosting selection guide\" with a link to the pillar β the anchor tells Google \"that page is about choosing hosting\". 30-50% exact match in internal links is usually beneficial and safe.
Anchor audit
Periodically audit your anchor profile. In Ahrefs \"Anchors\" view the top 50 anchors. Calculate %: how much exact match, how much branded. If exact match exceeds 15-20% β be cautious.
Adjust strategy based on the audit. If exact match is too high, prioritise branded and generic in the next campaigns.
Sayt.uz anchor strategy
Sayt.uz adopted a natural anchor strategy from the start. Current profile: 58% branded (\"Sayt.uz\", \"Sayt.uz blog\", \"Sayt.uz hosting\"), 22% naked URL and generic, 12% partial match, 8% exact match. This is natural and Google has never flagged us.
When we earn a new backlink we always propose to the source owner a branded or naked URL anchor. Exact match only appears in very rare natural cases. Penguin has never flagged us.