Anchor text is the clickable words that make up a hyperlink, the visible, usually underlined or coloured phrase a reader clicks to move to another page. Search engines read that phrase as a small description of what waits on the other side of the click, which makes it one of the more direct relevance signals a page can pick up from a link pointing at it.
A link’s destination matters, but so does the phrase carrying it there. “Click here” and “this in-depth guide to home composting” point to the exact same page, yet only one of them tells a search engine, or a reader skimming the paragraph, anything about what that page actually covers.
The Main Types of Anchor Text
Exact match anchor text uses the target page’s main keyword word for word, which is the strongest relevance signal a link can carry and also the type search engines watch most closely for overuse. Phrase match softens that slightly by wrapping the keyword inside a fuller, more natural phrase, while partial match swaps in a variation or synonym rather than the exact term.
Branded anchors use only a company or site name, common in author bios and citations, and generic anchors lean on filler phrases like “read more” or “learn more” that carry almost no topical information on their own. A naked URL, the raw web address used as its own link text, trades elegance for transparency about exactly where a click leads. Image links work differently again: the alt attribute attached to the image does the job a text anchor would normally do, since there are no visible words for a search engine to read.
Anchor Text and Natural Link Profiles
A link profile built almost entirely from exact match anchors reads as engineered rather than earned, a pattern search engines have watched for closely since the Penguin update made anchor text manipulation a specific, targetable signal rather than a vague suspicion. Real websites accumulate links the messy way: some visitors link with the exact keyword, plenty more just use the brand name, a few paste the raw URL, and a good number default to “here” or “this article” without thinking twice about SEO at all.
That mess is exactly the point. A natural profile mixes exact match, partial match, branded, and generic anchors without anyone deliberately planning the ratio. When a site’s link builder tries to recreate that mix by hand, restraint on exact match usage matters more than any other single decision, since it’s the pattern most likely to separate a genuine link from a purchased or exchanged one at a glance.