Link Building Beginner’s Guide: 6 Types of Anchor Text

The internet is a crowded room and Google wants to know who’s worth talking to. Anchor text is the conversation it listens out for.

When another site links to you, they are effectively introducing you to the room.

• The Generic Intro: “Have you met my friend Lucy?” (Google learns nothing).
• The Expert Intro: “Have you met Lucy? She’s an award-winning architect.” (Google immediately understands your value and expertise).
• The “Too Much” Intro: “Have you met Lucy, the #1 Best Cheap Architect in Bangkok?” (Instant red flag).

Getting this wrong can destroy your rankings. Getting it right is the key to sustainable growth.

To help you master the perfect introduction, here’s a breakdown of the essential anchor text types you need to know to keep your profile natural and powerful.

What Is Anchor Text and Why It Matters

Think of anchor text as the label on a filing cabinet.

When Google’s bots crawl the web, they can’t “read” content with human nuance. They rely on signals to understand what a page is actually about. If a reputable website links to your site using the words “reliable accounting software,” Google registers two things:

• A vote of authority: Another site trusts you enough to send their users to you.
• Topical relevance: Your site is almost certainly about “accounting software.”

This process is the backbone of SEO anchor text. It helps search engines determine which keywords your page deserves to rank for.

But here is the part most beginners get wrong: they think it’s only for Google.

Anchor text is primarily a user experience tool. It sets an expectation. If the link says “download pricing guide,” the user expects a PDF. If it says “click here,” they are going in blind. Clear, descriptive anchors reduce bounce rates because users land on the page they actually wanted to see.

The Six Main Types of Anchor Text Explained

A healthy backlink profile should look like a natural conversation. If everyone mentioned your business using the exact same robotic phrase, it would look suspicious.

Google thinks so too.

To build a natural link building profile, you need a healthy mix of these six categories…

1. Exact Match Anchor Text

   This anchor text type uses the exact keyword you want to rank for as the link text.
   Example: Linking to a page about “SEO services” using the anchor SEO services.
   The Verdict: Powerful but dangerous. It sends the strongest possible signal to Google, but overuse triggers penalties. Treat these like chillies when cooking; a little adds flavour, but too much may ruin the dish. Save them for your highest-quality links only.

2. Partial Match Anchor Text

   This is the ‘sweet spot’, as it includes your target keyword but modifies it with other words to create a natural sentence fragment.
   Example: “You can learn more by running a comprehensive SEO audit on your site.”
   The Verdict: Safe and effective. It retains keyword relevance but flows naturally within a sentence, making it far less likely to trigger spam filters.

3. Branded Anchor Text

   This uses your brand name (or a variation) as the link.
   Examples: “Data from Move Ahead Media shows…” or “According to Move Ahead…”
   The Verdict: Essential for trust. Google expects legitimate businesses to be referenced by name. If you are new to link building, start here. You can never really have too many branded links.

4. Generic Anchor Text

   These are the instructional calls to action that contain no keywords at all.
   Examples: “Click here,” “Read more,” “View the source,” “Check this out.”
   The Verdict: Vital for balance. While they don’t pass keyword ranking power, a profile with zero generic links looks fake. They prove you aren’t micro-managing every single mention of your brand.

5. Naked URL Anchor Text

   Sometimes, the link is just the web address itself.
   Example: “Visit https://www.moveaheadmedia.co.th/ for more info.”
   The Verdict: Messy but authentic. You’ll see these often in directories and social media bios. They reinforce your domain authority without aggressively trying to rank for a keyword.

6. Image Anchor (Alt Text)

   When an image links to another page (like a clickable logo), Google uses the image’s Alt Text as the anchor.
   Example: A “Google Partner” badge linking to your site should have the Alt Text: “Google Premier Partner Badge.”
   The Verdict: Don’t leave it blank. It’s a wasted opportunity for SEO anchor text optimisation and an accessibility failure for visually impaired users.

Best Practices for Using Anchor Text in Link Building

Now that you know the tools, how do you use them to drive growth? You don’t need to be a technical wizard, but you do need a strategy.

Maintain a Natural Anchor Text Ratio

There is no “perfect” percentage, and anyone who gives you a rigid formula (e.g., “always use 20% exact match”) is using an outdated playbook.

Instead, aim for diversity.

If you are an accountant in Phuket, and 90% of your links say “tax accountant Phuket,” you are walking into a trap. A healthy profile is messy.

Prioritise Relevance and Context

Context is king.

Google doesn’t simply read anchor text; its BERT and NLP models analyse the words surrounding the link to understand the semantic meaning.

If you are a builder, a link from a generic “links page” is worth far less than a link embedded in a blog post about “Renovation trends in 2024.” The anchor text must fit grammatically into the sentence. If you have to force it, it looks spammy.

Avoid Over-Optimisation

Google penalises manipulation.

If you are paying for cheap links (which you should never do) or using automated tools to spam forums, you will likely end up with hundreds of exact match links. This is a one-way ticket to a manual penalty.

Focus on quality placements and varied wording.

Common Anchor Text Mistakes to Avoid

When you are focused on hitting KPIs, it is easy to get tunnel vision on specific keywords.

Avoid these common traps:

• Internal Linking Overkill: It’s not just external links that matter. Don’t spam your own internal blog posts with the same exact match anchor text pointing to your service pages. Vary your internal linking language too.
• Irrelevant Anchors: Don’t link the word “washing machine” to a page about “holidays.” It confuses the user and signals to Google that your site structure is illogical.
• The “Empty” Anchor: Sometimes coding errors result in a link existing without any text at all. This is a technical error that needs fixing.
• Linking to the Wrong Page: Make sure your “commercial cleaning” anchor text actually goes to your Commercial Cleaning service page, not your Contact Us page.

How to Audit and Improve Anchor Text Profiles

If you have been running a website for years, you might have a messy link profile without realising it.

To fix this, you need to take a little peek under the hood. Tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Google Search Console allow you to audit your backlinks.

• Look for the “Spike”: In your anchor text report, sort by volume. If your brand name is at the top, great. If your exact money keyword (e.g., “cheap loans”) is the number one anchor text by a wide margin, you are at risk.

If you spot an imbalance, you can’t always change the links (since you don’t own the other websites). However, you can adjust your future strategy to “dilute” the aggressive links with fresh, high-quality, branded, or partial match links.

How Move Ahead Media Builds Natural Link Profiles

At Move Ahead Media, our Link Building Services are strictly white-hat and engineered for safety. We also provide Expert SEO Reseller Services for Digital Agencies, helping other marketers deliver the same level of protection to their clients.

Stop worrying about algorithms and start building authority that lasts. Get started today.