Link Building
Anchor Text Ratios That Survive an Algorithm Update
Exact-match anchors still work, right up until they suddenly do not. A durable anchor profile looks surprisingly boring.
The shape of a natural profile
Links that occur without solicitation are overwhelmingly branded or generic. People link using your company name, your URL, or a phrase like read more. Exact-match commercial anchors are rare in genuinely earned links, which is precisely why an abundance of them is conspicuous.
A profile that holds up over time usually sits somewhere near half branded, a quarter generic or naked URL, a fifth partial-match, and only a small remainder exact-match.
Vary by page, not just by site
Aggregate ratios hide problems. A site can look balanced overall while a single money page carries thirty exact-match anchors. Check the distribution per target URL, not only across the domain.
If one page needs many links, vary the anchors deliberately across them and let some point to related informational pages instead. Internal links then pass strength to the commercial page without concentrating external anchors on it.
Placement beats phrasing
Where a link sits matters more than most anchor debates acknowledge. A link in the second paragraph of a relevant article, surrounded by text that discusses the same subject, carries context that no anchor phrasing can substitute for.
A perfectly chosen anchor in an author bio or a footer is still a footer link. Prioritise in-body placement, then worry about the wording.
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