Anchor Text Generator
Generate branded, partial, long tail, generic and naked URL anchors for any page, then paste the anchors you already have and see how the mix compares to a natural profile. Everything runs in your browser.
Target mix
- Branded 35 to 50%: Your name, on its own or wrapped in a phrase
- Long tail 10 to 20%: A phrase or half a sentence, the way people really link
- Generic 10 to 20%: Click here, this guide, read more
- Partial match 10 to 20%: Your keyword inside a larger phrase
- Naked URL 5 to 15%: The address itself, linked as text
- Exact match 1 to 5%: The target keyword and nothing else
5 anchor variations
How the link reads in a sentence
We wrote this guide after auditing a few hundred sites, and it covers the part most checklists skip.
Add a target URL and the sample above becomes a working link.
Short answer
Anchor text is the clickable text of a link, and it describes the destination to both a reader and a search engine. What matters is the mix rather than any single phrase: natural profiles are dominated by branded and URL anchors, because that is how people cite a source, and carry only a handful of exact-match commercial terms. The working bands are roughly 35 to 50 percent branded, 10 to 20 percent each of generic, long tail and partial match, 5 to 15 percent naked URLs, and under 5 percent exact match. Google publishes no thresholds, so treat these as a shape to check against rather than a target to hit.
The six types, and what each one signals
Every anchor falls into one of six buckets. The classifier in the audit tab uses the same six, so a generated plan and an existing profile can be read on the same axis.
| Type | Example | Natural share | What it signals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Branded | CrawlRaven, the CrawlRaven blog | 35 to 50% | Someone citing a source by name, which is the most common real-world link |
| Long tail | a practical guide to technical audits | 10 to 20% | A writer describing the page in their own words rather than yours |
| Generic | this guide, read more, here | 10 to 20% | Casual linking. Natural externally, wasteful on your own site |
| Partial match | free technical seo audit checklist | 10 to 20% | Descriptive and topical without reading as placement copy |
| Naked URL | example.com, https://example.com/guide | 5 to 15% | A pasted link, which is what sharing looks like when nobody edits it |
| Exact match | technical seo audit | Under 5% | Useful in small numbers, and the signature of a bought campaign in large ones |
The bands are a shape, not a rule
No published threshold exists, and any tool that quotes one has invented it. These bands describe what unmanufactured profiles tend to look like, which makes them useful for spotting a profile that was manufactured.
What over-optimised anchors actually look like
Google's spam policies describe link spam by intent: links created to manipulate rankings rather than to help a reader. Keyword-rich anchor text appears there as a symptom, not as the offence.
The patterns that get profiles into trouble are usually visible in a distribution chart before anyone reads a single link:
- One phrase, many domains. The same commercial anchor repeated across unrelated sites is the clearest tell there is, and it is the one no natural profile produces.
- Almost no branded anchors. If nobody links to you by name, either nobody knows the name or the links were not editorial.
- Money pages only. Natural links land on guides, data and tools. A profile pointing exclusively at pricing and category pages was built, not earned.
- Zero variation in phrasing. Real writers paraphrase. Identical wording across dozens of links means one person wrote all of them.
None of these describes a single bad link. They describe a shape, which is why the audit tab reports percentages instead of grading rows.
Internal anchors: the half you control
External anchor text is mostly other people's wording. Internal anchor text is entirely yours, and it is the part of this topic with a reliable payoff.
| Internal link problem | Why it costs you | Better anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Read more, click here, learn more | Describes nothing to a reader scanning, and nothing to a crawler | The phrase that names the destination page |
| The same anchor to different pages | Two pages compete for one description, which is a duplication problem | One distinct descriptive phrase per destination |
| Full sentences as anchors | The link target is buried inside words that describe the sentence, not the page | Three to six words that name the topic |
| Image links with no alt text | The alt attribute is the anchor for an image link, and empty means no description | Alt text describing the destination, not the image file |
| Navigation-only internal links | Body links carry more context than a repeated menu item | In-context links from the paragraph that raises the topic |
Fixing the vague internal anchors on a site is usually a morning of work and needs no outreach, no budget and nobody else's permission.
How to build an anchor text plan
Six steps. The fifth is the one that stops a plan from turning into a pattern.
- 01
Enter the keyword, the brand and the destination URL
All three feed the templates. The keyword produces the partial and exact variants, the brand produces the branded ones, and the URL produces the naked variants, which are the three types most link plans forget to include.
- 02
Take more from the top of the list than the bottom
The generated set is ordered branded first and exact match last, which is the order you should use them in. The exact-match variant exists so you can see it, not so you can use it forty times.
- 03
Rewrite the long-tail variants in your own words
Templates produce phrasing that reads like a template. The long-tail bucket matters most for how natural a profile looks, so treat those lines as prompts and rephrase them the way you would in an email to a colleague.
- 04
Paste your existing anchors into the audit tab
Export the anchor column from any backlink tool, or list your internal links to a page. The classifier sorts each one into the same six types and shows the share against a natural band.
- 05
Fix the shape rather than any individual link
One exact-match anchor is not a problem. Forty percent of a profile being exact-match commercial phrases is the pattern that looks bought, and no single line in that list is the thing to change.
- 06
Apply the same thinking to internal links, where you control everything
External anchors are mostly other people's choices. Internal anchors are entirely yours, and they are the fastest place to fix vague `read more` links that describe nothing to a reader or a crawler.
Anchors describe a destination, so the destination has to be worth describing. Check that the target page is actually indexable with the page indexability checker, and that the links pointing at it resolve with the broken link checker.
Anchors are a description, not a lever
The fastest returns here are internal, where you write both ends of the link. The technical SEO audit guide covers where internal linking sits in the wider list, and the URL slug generator handles the other half of what a link communicates.
What this tool does
Six anchor types
Branded, long tail, generic, partial, naked URL and exact match
Variations per type
Templates filled from your keyword, brand and destination URL
Distribution bar
The share of each type, with the natural band alongside
Audit your existing mix
Paste an anchor export and every line is classified
Over and under flags
Each type marked in band, over or under, so the fix is obvious
HTML and CSV copy
Ready-to-paste anchor tags or a spreadsheet column
Sentence preview
See the anchor sitting inside a sentence rather than in a list
Runs in your browser
A client's backlink export never leaves your machine
Generated anchors are drafts, not copy
Frequently asked questions
What is anchor text?
Anchor text is the clickable text of a link. It tells a reader where the link goes before they click, and it gives search engines a short description of the destination page, which is why it has been a ranking input since the earliest days of link-based search.
What is a good anchor text distribution?
A natural profile is dominated by branded and URL anchors, because that is how people cite a source, with a minority of descriptive phrases and very few exact-match commercial terms. The bands used here are roughly 35 to 50 percent branded, 10 to 20 percent generic, 10 to 20 percent long tail, 10 to 20 percent partial match, 5 to 15 percent naked URLs and under 5 percent exact match.
Is there an official anchor text percentage from Google?
No. Google has never published thresholds and any tool quoting one is guessing. What Google does say, in its spam policies, is that links built to manipulate rankings are a violation, and it names keyword-rich anchor text in low-quality placements as an example of the pattern.
Can exact-match anchor text hurt a site?
Exact-match anchors are not harmful in themselves. A profile made mostly of them, pointing at commercial pages from unrelated sites, is the signature of a bought link campaign, and that pattern is what link spam systems act on. The safe reading is to let exact-match anchors happen rather than manufacture them.
How is anchor text used for internal links?
It is the clearest signal you fully control. Internal anchors describe your own pages to crawlers and readers, so a descriptive phrase beats `click here` every time. The distribution rules matter far less internally, because nobody is judging your own site for over-optimising its own navigation.
Does anchor text still matter in 2026?
Yes, though less as a lever and more as a description. Ranking systems draw meaning from the words around a link and the page it lands on, not from a term count. Anchor text remains one of the few pieces of text that describes a page from outside the page.
What is a naked URL anchor?
A link whose visible text is the address itself, like example.com or https://example.com/guide. They occur naturally when people paste a link, and their presence in a profile is a mild signal that links were shared rather than negotiated.
What counts as a generic anchor?
Phrases that carry no topical information: click here, this guide, read more, source. They are natural in a link profile and unhelpful on your own site, where every internal link is an opportunity to describe the destination in words a reader can act on.
Should I use the same anchor text every time?
No. Repetition of one phrase across many links is the least natural pattern there is, and it wastes the chance to describe different facets of the page. Vary the phrasing, keep the meaning consistent, and let the mix skew branded.
How does this tool classify my existing anchors?
It compares each line against the keyword and brand you entered. An anchor containing the brand is branded, one that is only the keyword is exact match, one containing the keyword inside a longer phrase is partial, an address is a naked URL, a phrase made only of filler words is generic, and anything long and descriptive is long tail.
Where do I get my current anchor text list?
Any backlink tool exports it: the anchor column of a referring-links report from Ahrefs, Semrush, Majestic or Search Console's links report. For internal anchors, a crawl gives you the same list for your own site, which is the half you can actually change.
Does anchor text need to be an exact keyword to work?
No, and forcing it usually reads worse. Search engines have handled synonyms and paraphrase for years, so a natural phrase containing the idea does the job. Write the sentence first and let the link sit on the words that were already there.
Is the anchor text generator free?
Yes, with no signup. Both the generator and the distribution audit run in your browser, so an anchor export from a client's backlink profile never leaves your machine.
Other on-page SEO tools
Canonical Tag Checker
Validate canonical tags for self-referencing, protocol mismatches, trailing slash conflicts, noindex conflicts, and og:url consistency.
Use toolHreflang Validator
Validate hreflang tags for international SEO: self-referencing, return tags, x-default, language codes, and duplicate detection.
Use toolSchema & JSON-LD Validator
Validate structured data markup: required properties, date formats, nested entities, and JSON syntax. Supports all major schema types.
Use toolMeta Tag Checker
Check title tags, meta descriptions, Open Graph tags, Twitter cards, canonical URLs, robots directives, and viewport settings.
Use toolMeta Tags Generator
Write the title, description, and social share tags every page needs. Live character counts plus previews of how it will look in Google and on social.
Use toolKeyword Density Checker
See which words and phrases your copy actually leans on. Single word, two word and three word counts with density and first-mention position.
Use toolSERP Snippet Preview
See your title and meta description the way Google renders them, measured in pixels. Desktop and mobile, with the exact character your snippet is cut at.
Use toolURL Slug Generator
Turn a list of page titles into clean, readable URL slugs. Accents transliterated, filler words optional, and duplicates caught across the whole list.
Use toolAnchor text is one line in a much longer report
A vague internal anchor matters only if the page it points at is worth ranking. CrawlRaven crawls the whole site, then joins it to Search Console and GA4, so internal linking fixes arrive ordered by the impressions and traffic sitting behind them.