You can make a link sound more optimized while making it less useful. We recommend starting with the reader: anchor text is the visible text of a link, and it should make the destination clear without forcing a keyword pattern.
Google uses links to discover pages and understand relevance. Its link best practices favor wording that is useful in context, not wording packed with keywords. We use a simple review: destination, wording, markup, verification.
Guidance checked September 8, 2026. The examples and audit sequence below are our recommended method, not measured client results.
What anchor text is
In a normal text link, anchor text appears between the opening and closing anchor elements:
<a href="/hubspot-onboarding-training">HubSpot onboarding and training</a>
The visible phrase tells the reader what the destination covers. The href gives the browser and crawler the address.
Google can generally crawl an HTML <a> element with an href that resolves to a real web address. A click handler on a <span>, an anchor with no href, or a javascript: destination is not the same as a standard crawlable link.
Why anchor text matters for SEO and usability
Links connect related pages and help visitors move through a site. Google also follows links to find pages and uses link context as one input when understanding the destination.
Descriptive internal link text can help:
- Reader choice: Describe the destination so visitors can decide whether to follow it.
- Accessible purpose: Give people using a list of links enough information to understand the target.
- Discovery: Connect an important page from another page that Google can find.
- Context: Explain the relationship between the source and destination.
- Navigation: Use labels that distinguish one useful resource from another.
As Google explains in its SEO Starter Guide, search visibility is not guaranteed. Anchor text does not guarantee that a page will be crawled, indexed, or ranked. It is one part of a usable site structure and relevant content system.
What Google recommends
Google's link guidance can be applied through five editorial checks:
- Description: Tell the reader what the linked page covers.
- Length: Keep the wording short enough to scan without losing its purpose.
- Source context: Check that the link belongs in this sentence and on this page.
- Destination relevance: Confirm that the target actually answers the expectation you set.
- Natural language: Remove words included only to fit another keyword variation.
Google also recommends surrounding a link with useful context. The words before and after the anchor help readers understand why the link is there. Avoid placing many links directly beside one another when the result is difficult to distinguish or lacks context.
Descriptive anchor text examples
Generic link text
Less useful:
Read <a href="/seo-services">more</a>.
More descriptive:
Review Selworthy's <a href="/seo-services">SEO services</a>.
The second version remains concise while describing the destination.
Overloaded link text
Less useful:
Explore our <a href="/seo-services">complete best affordable SEO services agency solution for every business</a>.
More natural:
Explore our <a href="/seo-services">SEO services</a> for a practical overview of the work.
The shorter version does not try to fit every related query into the link.
Vague page labels
Less useful:
See our <a href="/website-design">page</a>.
More descriptive:
See how Selworthy approaches <a href="/website-design">website design and development</a>.
The link can make sense even when a reader scans it separately from the full paragraph.
Is exact-match anchor text always bad?
No. An exact phrase can be the clearest natural description of a destination. A link labeled website design pointing to a website-design service page is not automatically manipulative.
The problem is forced repetition or link creation primarily to manipulate rankings. Do not replace a clear phrase with an awkward synonym simply to avoid an exact match. Also do not repeat a keyword-rich anchor across large numbers of pages, distributed articles, templates, or paid placements for ranking purposes.
Judge the anchor in context:
- Purpose: Check whether the wording explains the destination.
- Sentence fit: Read the whole sentence aloud and remove forced wording.
- Length: Keep enough detail to be useful without burying the point.
- Relevance: Confirm that the destination supports this specific context.
- Intent: Add the link to help the audience, not to manufacture a ranking signal.
Should you use generic anchors such as click here?
Generic anchors are not inherently prohibited, but Google gives them as examples of text that may be too vague. Click here, read more, website, and article often reveal little when read by themselves.
Use a descriptive phrase when it can remain clear and concise. W3C explains that link purpose can come from the text and its programmatically associated context. That can make a contextual read-more link understandable. It is not a reason to leave an isolated link ambiguous. Review the rendered component, not only the words in source code.
Internal link anchor text
Internal links point between pages on the same site. Google recommends making every page you care about reachable from at least one other findable page and linking to useful supporting resources in context.
A practical internal-link process is:
- Topic owner: Identify the page that owns the topic or service intent.
- Context: Find pages where that destination genuinely helps the reader.
- Placement: Add the link in a relevant sentence or section.
- Wording: Use concise text that describes the destination.
- Destination: Confirm the URL resolves to the intended canonical page.
- Rendering: Verify that the link appears in rendered HTML on desktop and mobile.
- Restraint: Avoid adding many links merely because a keyword appears.
For example, a page about CRM implementation can link to a related HubSpot onboarding and training page when the connection helps the reader understand the service. The anchor should describe that destination rather than repeat a broader marketing phrase.
External link anchor text
External links can support a claim, identify a source, or send the reader to a useful resource. Use the specific document or page that supports the statement instead of a generic organization homepage when possible.
The anchor should identify the source or subject accurately. Do not make the link text claim more than the destination proves.
Normal editorial links do not need nofollow simply because they leave the site. Google explains how to qualify outbound links according to the relationship, including paid placements, user-generated content and links you do not want to associate with your site.
Sponsored and user-generated links
Google's current spam policies allow appropriately qualified advertising and sponsorship links. Its outbound-link guidance makes the following distinctions:
| Link relationship | Attribute guidance | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Regular editorial link | No special relationship attribute is required. | Confirm that the destination is relevant and one you intend to reference normally. |
| Advertisement or paid placement | Google prefers rel="sponsored"; nofollow remains acceptable. |
Identify the commercial relationship before choosing the attribute. |
| User-generated content, such as a comment or forum post | Google recommends rel="ugc"; nofollow is also an option in its link guidance. |
Check how users can insert links and how the component marks them. |
| Other link you do not want associated with your site | Use nofollow when the other relationship values do not apply. |
Document why the link should be treated differently. |
We recommend making commercial relationships clear to readers as well as using the appropriate link attribute. These attributes do not guarantee that a destination will remain uncrawled or unindexed; Google may discover it elsewhere.
Image links and alt text
When an image is the link, Google can use the image's alt attribute as anchor text. The alt text should describe the image or the action in context rather than list keywords.
For a linked logo, the company name may be appropriate. For a linked product image, describe the product. For an icon-only action, make sure the accessible name tells users what the link does.
Avoid empty linked images unless another accessible name supplies the purpose. Test keyboard navigation and a representative screen-reader experience for important components.
Anchor text in navigation, footers, and repeated components
Navigation labels should be stable, concise, and understandable across the site. Repeated links are normal in global navigation and footers, but labels should reflect real information architecture rather than a list of keyword variations.
Google's spam policies identify widely distributed footer or template links across sites as link-spam examples in the context of ranking manipulation. That does not make a normal site footer a violation. The question is whether the link exists as useful navigation or as an artificial cross-site ranking device.
Common anchor text mistakes
Using a non-crawlable link format
Use a standard anchor element with a real href. If JavaScript also opens a modal or controls a component, preserve an appropriate crawlable or non-JavaScript destination when the design requires a real link.
Linking the same words to different intents
If HubSpot services sometimes points to onboarding, sometimes to consulting, and sometimes to a general service hub, visitors and crawlers receive an inconsistent signal. Use wording that reflects the destination's actual scope.
Creating chains of adjacent links
A sentence made of many one-word links is hard to read and provides little context. Space links within clear sentences and connect only the destinations that help.
Using URLs as the visible text
A raw URL can be appropriate when the address itself matters, but a descriptive source or page name is often easier to scan. Keep the actual destination accurate either way.
Prescribing anchor-text percentages
The Google guidance cited here does not prescribe percentages for branded, exact-match, partial-match, naked-URL, or generic anchors. Third-party ratios are not Google rules. Do not force a pattern that makes the writing less natural.
Changing anchors without checking the destination
An improved phrase does not fix a redirect chain, broken URL, wrong canonical, irrelevant page, or missing destination. Verify the link and page together.
Our destination, wording, markup and verification audit
1. Build a link inventory
Export internal links with source URL, destination URL, anchor text, link location, status code, canonical result, and whether the link appears in rendered HTML.
2. Prioritize important destinations
Identify service pages, topic pillars, conversion pages, and high-value resources that need clear paths from relevant pages. Do not treat every orphan or thin page as worthy of more links before deciding whether it should be indexed.
3. Flag unhelpful patterns
Review empty anchors, generic text, very long anchors, keyword-stuffed phrases, repeated template anchors, non-crawlable JavaScript links, image links without useful alt text, and anchors pointing to redirects or errors.
4. Review the sentence and page
Automation can identify patterns, but a person should decide whether the destination helps in that exact context. Bulk insertion can place links in the wrong sentence or create unnatural repetition.
5. Make small, attributable changes
Record the source, old anchor, new anchor, destination, reason, and date. Preserve unrelated content. Verify the rendered link after the CMS change.
6. Measure the right outcome
Track whether important pages become easier to discover and navigate, whether broken or redirected links decrease, and whether visitors use the links. Rankings can change for many reasons, so do not attribute a position change to anchor text alone without stronger evidence.
Frequently asked questions
What is anchor text in SEO?
Anchor text is the visible text of a link. It helps people and search systems understand the destination and the relationship between pages.
What makes good anchor text?
Google recommends link text that is descriptive, reasonably concise, relevant to the current and destination pages, and written naturally.
Is exact-match anchor text a penalty?
An exact phrase is not automatically a violation. Manipulative link creation, keyword stuffing, or widely distributed optimized anchors can conflict with Google's spam policies. Use the clearest natural wording for the reader.
Are generic anchors bad for SEO?
They are often less informative, but context matters. Prefer descriptive text when possible and make sure the link's accessible purpose is clear.
Should internal links be nofollow?
Normal internal navigation and editorial links generally do not need nofollow. Use link attributes according to the relationship, such as sponsored or user-generated content, rather than as a default internal-link tactic.
Does anchor text guarantee higher rankings?
No. Anchor text can help with discovery and understanding, but Google uses many systems and does not guarantee crawling, indexing, or ranking from a link change.
Make every link earn its place
Useful anchor text is a small editorial decision with a clear purpose: help the reader understand where the link goes. Keep the destination relevant, the wording natural, the markup crawlable, and the surrounding sentence useful.
We can review anchor text within your broader SEO strategy, website design and internal-link architecture plan. Talk with Selworthy about the pages and journeys that matter most.
Correction note: this refresh replaces the older article's blanket warning against exact-match internal anchors and its suggestion that generic anchors are a protective tactic. The current guidance above is contextual, not a formula for avoiding penalties.
Sources and checked dates
Google link guidance: See "Link best practices for Google", checked September 8, 2026.
Google spam policies: See "Spam policies for Google web search", checked September 8, 2026.
Google search fundamentals: See "SEO Starter Guide", checked September 8, 2026.
Link relationships: See Google's Qualify your outbound links, checked September 8, 2026.
Accessible purpose: See W3C's Link Purpose (In Context), checked September 8, 2026.
