What Are the Best Practices for Anchor Text in Backlinks?

June 21, 2026
Reading Time: 3 minutes

Anchor text is the clickable text of a hyperlink. Google reads it as a signal about what the linked page covers, which makes it valuable for SEO, but also a well-documented manipulation target. While a natural-looking anchor text profile uses variety, a profile dominated by exact-match anchors is a red flag that can trigger manual or algorithmic penalties.

The Six Anchor Text Types

1. Exact-match

Exact-match anchor texts mirror your target keyword exactly (“SEO services”). They are powerful but often overused, so keep them to a minimum.

2. Partial-match

Partial-match anchor texts include the keyword alongside other words (“affordable SEO services for startups”). They are more natural than exact-match ones while still displaying topical relevance.

3. Branded

Branded anchor texts use your brand name (“IceWeb” or “IceWeb SEO”). They are the backbone of a healthy profile because they signal authority without keyword manipulation.

4. Generic

Non-descriptive phrases (“click here,” “read more,” “visit this page”) have low SEO value individually, but are necessary for a natural distribution.

5. Naked URL

The raw URL used as anchor text (“iceweb.com”) is common in citations, directories, and press mentions. Such anchor texts add diversity and look organic.

6. Image anchors

When an image links to a page, Google treats the alt text as the anchor text. Optimized alt text on linked images forwards relevance signals that Google assesses.

At IceWeb, we audit anchor text distribution as a standard step in every link-building engagement. Our experience has shown that skewed profiles are one of the fastest ways to stall an otherwise clean campaign.

Safe Distribution Ratios

Anchor Type	Recommended Share
Branded	40–50%
Naked URL	20–25%
Partial-match	15–20%
Generic	10–15%
Exact-match	1–5%
Image (alt text)	As naturally occurs