What is Anchor Text?Anchor text is the visible, clickable text displayed in a hyperlink (the text you see highlighted in blue that you click to follow a link). In HTML, it is the text between the anchor tags. From an SEO perspective, anchor text provides context to search engines about the content of the
What is Anchor Text?
Anchor text is the visible, clickable text displayed in a hyperlink (the text you see highlighted in blue that you click to follow a link). In HTML, it is the text between the anchor tags. From an SEO perspective, anchor text provides context to search engines about the content of the page being linked to: a link with anchor text customer retention strategies tells Google the linked page is about customer retention strategies.
Types of Anchor Text in SaaS Link Building
A healthy backlink profile for a SaaS company includes a diverse mix of anchor text types: Branded anchors (company name or product name like HubSpot or Salesforce CRM), Naked URL anchors (just the URL like www.yoursite.com), Generic anchors (click here, read more, learn more), Phrase match anchors (partial keyword with additional words like best CRM for small business), and Exact match anchors (the precise target keyword like customer churn software). Over-reliance on exact match keyword anchors from external sites is a well-documented signal Google uses to identify manipulative link building schemes.
Frequently Asked Questions
What anchor text ratio is safe for SaaS link building?
A natural, low-risk anchor text profile for a SaaS company typically looks like: 40-60% branded or naked URL anchors, 20-30% generic anchors (click here, learn more, this article), 10-20% partial match or related phrase anchors, and 5-10% exact match keyword anchors. Exact match percentage above 15-20% from external links is increasingly risky. Internal link anchor text is less restricted: use descriptive, keyword-rich anchors for internal links as they help Google understand page topic without the manipulation risk associated with external exact match anchors.
How do I audit my anchor text profile?
Ahrefs Anchors report (under Site Explorer) shows all anchor text used across your backlink profile, sorted by frequency. Look for: excessive exact match keyword anchors (risk of over-optimization), suspicious non-brand anchors in large quantities, and anchor texts that do not represent your actual products or content (which may indicate spammy links). If exact match keyword anchors represent more than 20% of your link profile, a disavow file for the most suspicious links may be warranted.