Anchor Text Optimization
Anchor text is the only place on a page where one site describes another page in its own words. Ivan Sp writes and audits internal anchor text so every link describes its destination rather than repeating a bare keyword. Anchor text is one of the clearest topical signals a page can send, and a generic anchor throws that signal away for nothing.
Descriptive Anchors, Not Bare Keywords
An anchor reading “storage units” tells a reader and a crawler less than an anchor reading “storage units for seasonal items.” The second version describes what a reader will find at the destination, sitting inside a sentence with its own subject rather than as a dangling phrase.
Generic anchors such as “click here” waste the same opportunity from the opposite direction. They carry no topical signal at all, and a reader gets no preview of what happens next.
Caps That Prevent Over-Optimization
The same exact-match anchor phrase, repeated across a site past a set cap, is a known trigger for algorithmic suppression. Every linking document enforces a repeat limit. A template producing one identical phrase across a thousand generated pages is the clearest version of this failure.
Diversity requirements sit alongside the cap. A destination page earns several different, accurate anchor phrasings across the site, rather than one phrase copied everywhere it gets mentioned.
Placement Rules
I keep links out of the first paragraph and off the first words of a page. Early placement concentrates link equity in a way that reads as manipulative. It also interrupts a reader before they have any context for why the link matters.
One link per sentence is the ceiling. Stacking two anchors into a single sentence forces a reader to choose between destinations mid-thought. It also dilutes the topical signal either link would otherwise carry cleanly on its own.
Directing Equity Where It Changes an Outcome
I direct anchor placement deliberately rather than spreading it evenly. A high-traffic, high-authority page linking into a new or underperforming page concentrates existing strength where it actually moves a result. Authority stops pooling only on pages that are already strong.
This links directly to the structural work covered under internal linking and site architecture. Anchor quality only matters once the underlying link structure reaches the right pages at all.
Node-to-Node Linking Gets Avoided
A deep page linking straight into another deep page, with no parent category ever having introduced that relationship, flattens the semantic hierarchy a site’s structure exists to build. Links travel through categories and hub pages instead, keeping the topical relationship legible to readers and crawlers alike.
Where the Standard Anchor Text Advice Breaks Down
- The usual advice
- Use exact-match keyword anchors on internal links, since internal linking carries no penalty risk.
- What holds up in practice
- Exact-match repetition describes a destination once and then repeats it. Varied descriptive anchors cover more of the query space around the same page, which is the actual mechanism at work.
Picture a site with 60 internal links to one service page, every anchor reading the same four-word phrase. The consistency looks disciplined in a spreadsheet.
Those 60 links describe the page with a single vocabulary. Sixty varied anchors would have associated it with sixty legitimate phrasings instead.
I vary deliberately and keep every anchor descriptive. The goal is coverage of how people actually ask, not repetition of how one person decided to phrase it.
Uniform anchors leave the long tail uncovered, and the pattern reads as construction rather than as writing.
Four Things Commonly Assumed About Anchor Text
How many links on your site describe their destination as read more?
Ivan Sp meets these four assumptions whenever internal anchors have grown without a rule.
| Commonly assumed | What actually holds |
|---|---|
| Internal anchor text carries no risk. | One exact-match phrase repeated across hundreds of internal links reads as construction rather than as writing. |
| Exact-match anchors are the strongest option. | Repetition describes a page once. Varied descriptive anchors associate it with more of the ways people actually search. |
| Generic anchors are fine because the surrounding text explains the link. | The anchor is the description a crawler reads. Read more and click here describe nothing at all. |
| Any link on the page helps the destination. | A second link to the same destination on one page adds nothing, and links placed before the page has a subject add very little. |
| Anchor text only matters for external links. | Internal anchors are the only anchors you fully control, which makes them the more reliable of the two. |
Every read more on your site is a link that described its destination as nothing. Replacing those specific phrases is the cheapest internal linking work available.
Anchor Text Reference
- What it is
- The visible, clickable words of a link, which describe the destination to readers and crawlers.
- Recommended length
- Four to eight words, sitting inside a sentence that has its own subject.
- Generic anchors to replace
- Click here, read more, learn more, and this page.
- Crawlability requirement
- An anchor element with an href attribute. Google has stated other patterns may not be followed.
- Over-optimisation risk
- The same exact-match phrase repeated site-wide, which reads as manipulation.
- Image links
- Carry their anchor meaning in the alt text rather than in visible words.
- House rule on this site
- One link per sentence, and never the same destination twice on one page.
A Worked Example: Five Links to One Destination
Consider a site with five internal links pointing at one service page. The comparison below is illustrative and shows how anchor variety changes the description. No client engagement is described here.
| Source page | Generic anchor | Descriptive anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Homepage | Learn more | commercial roof repair in Surrey |
| Blog post on leaks | Click here | how flat roof leaks are traced and sealed |
| Services index | Read more | flat and metal roof repair services |
| About page | This page | the roof repair work described here |
| Contact page | Our services | emergency roof repair response times |
I vary the right column deliberately. Five identical exact-match anchors would describe the page once and repeat it four times.
Anchor text works like a caption under a doorway. Five doors labelled enter tell a visitor nothing, and five labelled by what lies beyond let anyone choose correctly.
The variation also covers more of the query space. Each anchor introduces vocabulary the destination page can legitimately be associated with.
How an Anchor Text Pass Runs
I work from the full site link graph rather than page by page.
- Crawl the site and export every internal link with its anchor text and its destination URL.
- Group the export by destination, so all anchors pointing at one page appear together.
- Flag every generic anchor, including click here, read more, and learn more.
- Count exact-match repetition per destination, and flag any phrase dominating its group.
- Rewrite each flagged anchor to four to eight words describing what the destination covers.
- Vary the phrasing across the group, so the set describes the page from several angles.
- Confirm each rewritten anchor sits inside a sentence carrying its own subject.
- Check that no page links to the same destination twice, since the second link adds nothing.
- Check that a parent page introduces a topic before any deep page links across to it.
- Re-crawl after deployment, and confirm the generic anchor count has reached zero.
How This Work Is Scoped
I scope anchor work against link volume rather than page count.
- What arrives
- A link-by-link replacement sheet, grouped by destination, with the reasoning recorded.
- Typical duration
- One to two weeks for a site under ten thousand internal links.
- What the client supplies
- CMS access, and confirmation of which destination pages carry commercial weight.
- Included
- Link graph export, generic anchor replacement, repetition analysis, and a verification crawl.
- Not included
- External link acquisition, and any control over how other sites word their anchors.
- What changes the estimate
- Sites above roughly fifty thousand internal links, or anchors hard-coded in templates.
- How it is quoted
- After a short scoping call, once the link graph size is known.
Tools and Primary Sources
The references below define link and anchor behaviour. Each opens in a new tab.
- Google crawlable links guidance sets out which link patterns Google follows and why anchor text carries meaning.
- Google link spam policy describes the link patterns treated as manipulation, including keyword-stuffed anchors.
- Screaming Frog SEO Spider exports every internal link with its anchor text, grouped by destination URL.
- Ahrefs Site Audit reports internal link distribution and flags pages with very few incoming anchors.
Count Your Own Generic Anchors
I suggest a count that takes about five minutes per page.
- Open your three most important pages in turn.
- Use your browser find function to search each page for the phrase read more.
- Repeat the search for click here and for learn more.
- Add up the total across all three pages.
Every result is a link describing its destination as nothing at all. Replacing those specific phrases is the cheapest internal linking work available.
Common Questions
How many words should anchor text be?
Four to eight words, long enough to describe the destination and short enough to stay readable inside a normal sentence. A single-word anchor rarely carries enough context, and a full clause reads as clumsy.
Is exact-match anchor text always risky?
Occasional exact-match anchors are normal and expected. The risk is repetition: the identical phrase used across many links to the same or different pages, a pattern quality systems are built to flag.
Should external links use the same anchor rules as internal links?
The same descriptive, non-generic principle applies to both. External link anchor text sits largely outside a site owner’s control anyway, since it depends on how other sites choose to link in.
Can anchor text be over-optimised on internal links?
Yes. Repeating one exact-match phrase across hundreds of internal links reads as a pattern rather than as writing. Varied, descriptive anchors describe a destination more completely and carry none of that risk.
Discuss This Work
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