How to plan anchor text across a link profile
Plan anchor text for the whole profile, not link by link. Record the anchors each target page already has, compare them with the pages that rank, set a band for each anchor type per page, and give writers two or three variants. Google publishes no safe ratio, so every percentage is a rule of thumb.
In short
- Google publishes no safe anchor ratio, so a plan should be benchmarked against the pages that already rank for the same term and page type.
- Ahrefs' anchor text study of 384,614 pages, updated in April 2020, found only a weak positive correlation between exact-match anchor share and rankings, and cites an industry convention of roughly 1% to 5% exact match.
- One published guide for iGaming, from ICODA in September 2026, suggests 50% to 60% branded, 20% to 30% partial match, 5% to 10% exact match and 10% to 15% generic or URL anchors.
- Google's leaked documentation records the share of spam-phrase anchors and the days over which they arrived, according to 2024 analyses, so both the mix and the timing of commercial anchors are measured.
- The lowest-risk place for exact-match anchors is your own internal links, where you control every word.
Plan anchor text at the level of the whole profile, not one link at a time. Decide, for each page you build links to, roughly what share of its anchors should be branded, descriptive or keyword-led. Then choose each new anchor so the profile moves towards that picture. A single exact-match anchor is harmless. The same commercial phrase arriving from twenty weak sites in a month is the pattern that gets links discounted.
Google publishes no safe ratio. Every percentage in this lesson is an industry rule of thumb or one named guide’s suggestion, and is labelled that way. What anchor text is and how Google uses it is covered in its own lesson. This one is about the plan.
Why plan at profile level
Two pieces of evidence explain the approach.
Ahrefs’ anchor text study, updated in April 2020, looked at 384,614 pages across 19,840 keywords. It found only a weak positive correlation between the share of exact-match anchors and ranking, and most top pages had a low share. More keyword anchors did not reliably mean better rankings.
Google’s Content Warehouse documentation, leaked in 2024, contains a group of fields that count spam-phrase anchors, record the fraction they make up and note the days over which most of them were discovered, according to iPullRank’s and Hobo’s 2024 analyses. The leak shows no weights. It does show that the share of commercial anchors and the speed at which they arrive are both recorded.
So the unit that matters is the distribution for a page, over time. That is what a plan controls.
Step 1: audit what you have
For each target page, export its anchors from a backlink tool. The backlink tools comparison lists products that provide this report. Then:
- Count by referring domain, not by raw link, so one sitewide link does not distort the picture.
- Put every anchor into one type: branded, naked URL, page title, generic, partial match, exact match, image or empty.
- Note the language of each anchor. English anchors pointing at a Greek or German page are a footprint in their own right.
- Record the totals for the page and for the whole domain.
Most sites find the homepage is heavily branded and a few commercial pages carry nearly all the keyword anchors. That is the starting position.
Step 2: benchmark against pages that rank
Take the top five ranking pages for the term each target page competes on, and run the same count. Compare like with like: a homepage against homepages, a category page against category pages, a guide against guides. A link gap analysis uses the same set of competitors, so the two jobs can share one export.
Expect the mix to vary by page type.
| Page type | What its anchors usually look like |
|---|---|
| Homepage | Dominated by the brand name and URL |
| Commercial or category page | Brand plus keyword, some partial match, few exact match |
| Guide, study or tool | Page title and topical phrases, because writers cite it by name |
Natural profiles are dominated by brand, URL and title anchors. If the pages that rank show 3% exact match and yours shows 30%, the gap is your risk. If they show 3% and you show none, you have a little room.
Step 3: set bands, not targets
Write down a range for each anchor type per page type. Use your benchmark first. Published heuristics are a second reference, and they disagree with each other, which is the point.
| Source | Branded and URL | Partial match or topical | Exact match | Generic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industry convention cited in Ahrefs’ anchor study | Not stated | Not stated | Roughly 1% to 5% | Not stated |
| ICODA’s iGaming guide, September 2026 | 50% to 60% branded | 20% to 30% | 5% to 10%, as a hard limit per money page | 10% to 15%, including naked URLs |
| Rule of thumb reported among iGaming agencies | 60% to 70% | 15% to 20%, including generic | Under 10% | Counted with topical |
None of these comes from Google. Confidence in any numeric ratio is low. Treat a band as a ceiling on keyword anchors, not as a quota to fill. Competitive sectors such as those in our iGaming hub run closer to the upper end because every rival does.
Add two limits that are easier to enforce than percentages:
- A cap on exact-match anchors per target page, counted in links, not in percent.
- No repeated exact-match anchor from the same publisher.
Step 4: build an anchor bank for each target page
For each page in the plan, write a short list of acceptable anchors by type: the brand, brand plus topic, two or three partial-match phrases, the page title and one exact-match phrase. Every option must describe the page honestly. An anchor that does not match its target is a waste, and the leaked documentation includes a demotion for anchors that do not match their target, though it shows nothing about how that is applied.
Deciding which pages go in the plan is a separate job, covered in which pages need links. A common working default from placement briefs sends 40% to 60% of new links to the homepage and brand pages, 20% to 30% to informational assets and 20% to 30% to commercial pages. That split is practitioner practice, not data, and it shapes anchors too: more homepage links means more brand anchors without any effort.
Step 5: decide where you control the anchor
You only choose the anchor for some links. Plan around that.
| Link source | Who chooses the anchor | Planning rule |
|---|---|---|
| Digital PR and editorial mentions | The journalist | Do not ask. Expect brand and URL anchors |
| Partner, supplier and directory links | Mostly the other site | Brand name |
| Genuine guest posts | You, within the host’s rules | Brand or a natural descriptive phrase |
| Paid placements | You | The only place a commercial anchor is a real choice, and where the cap applies |
| Internal links | You, fully | Use exact-match and descriptive anchors freely |
Earned links supply the branded base for free. That base is what makes a small number of chosen commercial anchors look ordinary. A site with only paid guest posts in its profile has no such cover, so its plan needs to lean branded even where it could choose otherwise.
When you do choose, give the writer two or three variants and let the sentence decide. How to write a placement brief shows where this sits in the brief.
Step 6: log, pace and review
Add the anchor and its type to your link tracker for every new link. Then:
- Pace commercial anchors. Spread them across months. A burst of similar keyword anchors is what the leaked spike fields describe. Link velocity covers timing in general.
- Review quarterly. Compare the distribution per page with your bands and with the competitors again, since their profiles move too.
- Require approval. A written rule that any commercial anchor needs sign-off stops a vendor from filling the cap in one order. That belongs in your link buying policy.
Where to go next
Put the anchor bands into your link plan so they sit next to targets and budget. Anchor types are defined in the glossary.
Common questions
What is a good anchor text ratio for backlinks?
There is no official one. Google has never published a ratio. The working method is to match the anchor mix of the pages that already rank for your term, and to keep exact-match anchors a small minority.
How do I analyse the anchor text of my backlinks?
Export the anchors report for each target page from a backlink tool, group every anchor into a type such as branded, URL, generic, partial match or exact match, and count by referring domain. Then do the same for the top ranking competitors.
Should every backlink use my target keyword?
No. A profile where most links use the same commercial phrase is the pattern Google's Penguin system was built to catch. Most anchors in a natural profile are the brand name, the URL or the page title.
How many anchor variants should I give a writer?
Two or three acceptable options are enough. Let the sentence decide which one fits, and never ask for an anchor that does not describe the page it points to.
How often should I review my anchor plan?
Check the distribution at least once a quarter and after any large campaign. Review it straight away if one commercial anchor starts to dominate the links to a single page.
