Anchor Text Ratio: How to Build Backlinks Without Over-Optimizing

Anchor text is the clickable text of a link. It tells search engines what the linked page is about. Using your exact keyword on every link, however, looks unnatural and can hold your pages back.

The main anchor text types

• Branded: your brand name, for example "Veftor".
• Naked URL: the address itself, for example "veftor.com".
• Generic: "click here", "this guide", "learn more".
• Partial match: includes part of your keyword, for example "guide to buying guest posts".
• Exact match: your target keyword, for example "buy guest posts".

A safe starting distribution

There is no official ratio, and it varies by niche. A common, conservative starting point for a new link building campaign looks like this:

• Branded: 35 to 45 percent
• Naked URL: 15 to 20 percent
• Generic: 10 to 15 percent
• Partial match: 15 to 25 percent
• Exact match: 5 to 10 percent

The best benchmark is your competition. Check the anchor profiles of the pages ranking on page one for your keyword and stay within a similar range.

Plan anchors before you order

Decide the anchor for each link before you buy. Our free anchor text planner splits any number of links into a balanced mix so you can assign one anchor per order.

Keep anchors natural in the sentence

The words around your link matter too. A partial match anchor inside a relevant sentence looks far more natural than an exact keyword dropped into an unrelated paragraph.