Anchor Text Ratio: Why Four SEO Guides Give Four Different “Ideal” Numbers

As SEO experts, one of the most asked questions is, “What percentage should each anchor text type be? Well, we can’t be so sure, as there is no universal answer. Some guides have a margin, and some don’t; hence, everyone disagrees with each other. In this comprehensive guide, we will walk you through most sources that we consider reliable and what will work best for you. 

Anchor text ratio: The real knowledge 

The anchor text ratio is the percentage of backlinks that use anchor text targeting your website. Let’s say our company has backlinks from other websites, and publishers have used our brand name to pass the link juice. In the backlink audit, we found that out of 100 backlinks, 50 used our brand name, so our branded anchor text ratio is 50 percent.  

Now, instead of a percentage, it can be expressed as a ratio too, like 4:5. The first page explains the ratio number beautifully and how it can be used in page distribution.  For example, let’s say that we have got backlinks from 4 pages having anchor text “ best SEO services” and 5 naked url as “ https://fastlinky.com/ so the ratio becomes 4: 5. 

How to calculate the anchor text ratio 

According to our knowledge, anchor text ratio can be extracted in the following ways 

Data collection 

Start with any SEO tool that you have in your inventory; the ones we use are Semrush and Moz. Using the anchor text report in these, we determine the number of anchor texts that are linking to our pages. These data clearly show the naked URL, partial match, brand mention, and exact match that are used; this helps to understand the anchor text distribution. 

Categorization 

Once we have all the anchor text, we open an Excel sheet, and then we classify them into lists. For instance, if we find 7 naked URLs, then we classify them as such. We follow the same process for brand name, generic, and other types of anchor text. For full classification of anchor text, refer to our guide here.  

Maths 

Once the categorization is done, the next thing is what we do to perform the maths. We count the number of backlinks from each category, divide by the total number of backlinks received, and then multiply by 100. W3 era states that calculating makes your productivity rise by significantly.  For instance, if we de find out that we received 35 generic anchors from 100 backlinks, then we have 35 % generic backlinks.

Monitoring for pages 

Monitoring of anchor text should be done for individual pages and not just for the entire website. Calculate the anchor text distribution for internal pages and the homepage. The homepage may directly attract branded anchors, and service pages might attract descriptive anchors. Each page review is the crux. 

Variation of anchor text ratio among publishers 

In order to understand the variation of anchor text, we looked into various SEO guides and noted their suggested range. Here is the chart 

Another study from SEO Sherpa suggested that for the homepage, 5 % should be exact match, 10 % partial, and 80 % should be branded.  Once you have the information at your disposal, we would suggest that you not treat these percentages as the universal answer but as reference points that can make your anchor strategy better. The goal should always be to create content where the anchor text feels natural and links building practices that always comply with Google spam policies. 

Why numbers mismatch 

These seo studies show variation in numbers since Google does not provide any individual numbers.  The results you see in these studies are all individual experiences that they have derived from working on different projects. Take a look at the SEO Sherpa text guide, where it cites Ahrefs data, while Baby Lover Growth suggests different data. In a nutshell, there is no universal ratio; it all depends on your distribution, your niche, and your audience segmentation. 

The knowledge of SERP benchmarking 

Since there is no universal ratio for anchor text, the safest and easiest way is to follow SERP benchmarking. With the help of this method, you tend to understand patterns of anchor text by comparing the pages of your competitors and doing your own evaluation 

Step 1: Make sure that you research the target keyword and see your competitors. Check who is topping the search engine results for your intended keyword. Check the content quality and the anchor text in those, and try to incorporate them into yours. 

Step 2:  Use tools like Ahref and sem rush to extract data from your competitors. Check for anchor text reports and analyze them consistently. 

Step 3: Take an Excel sheet and group the anchors. This will help you know which ones are branded anchors, which are naked URLs, and which ones are other matches like generic, partial, or exact 

Adjusting anchor text  ratio 

This means adjusting homepage and inner pages. You might have noticed that homepages always draw branded anchors. Inner pages might receive descriptive anchor text since that defines a specific page. First Page Digital draws this conclusion beautifully. This is the reason we advise you to have different anchor text distribution for the homepage and inner pages. 

Let’s consider our website: Fastlinky 

When publishers want to describe our brand, they might link us in three ways: “ fastlinky”, https://fastlinky.com, and visit fastlinky. Now, when they want to link our service pages, they might link with anchor text seo strategies, guide to earn quality backlinks, and top seo tactics in 2026

This kind of anchor text distribution fails the reader because it doesn’t tell them what they’ll find at the other end of the website, so it’s not helpful. 

New website 

Whenever a new website comes into the picture, it’s obvious that it will have less brand recognition than the established ones.  So the backlink profile differs from the established ones. For instance, let’s say that Fastlinky has opened a new website and very few people know about it. Some may link it as the brand name “Fastlinky,” while others might mention its naked URL. So this does not mean you should build your website just to earn backlinks, but create content that would make your website link-worthy 

Niches 

Anchor text ratio might differ in different industries, and rank crown explains it so beautifully. It clearly shows the distinction between anchor text ratios from different industries like legal, finance, and local.  

Let’s say that our company, Fastlinky, is trying to rank for a keyword, and you watch your competitors rank for the same keyword. You analyze the backlinks of your competitor, and you see that they have 20 % of anchor text distribution for branded, naked, and exact match. That does not mean that you would copy the percentage; it means you now have the percentage to investigate whether the links were acquired originally or purchased through a PBN 

Internal links 

They are very different from backlinks, and since you are in control, you are in charge of the wording and structure. The essential here is using descriptive anchor text so that search engines and the readers can understand the page. A study guide from the W3 era suggests that using keyword-rich anchors can provide up to 40% internal anchor distribution. The foundation has always been choosing anchor text for the surrounding content and not using ones randomly that make no sense 

Warning signs that are present in anchor text ratio 

• We have formulated the following benchmarks based on our research; please note that these are not universal benchmarks but have been tried and tested results. Google documentation doesn’t have these data. 

• We believe that exact match anchors should be around 4-5%. One study stated that you should flag content that has more than this. However, please note these are independent studies and not Google thresholds. 

• Checking your over-optimization against competitors is the crux. Rank Crown even suggests that you should always compare and then  make the final list to check if there is an over-optimization error 

• Always check anchor text for each page and not just for the entire website. Checking over-optimization on each page will give you a much better idea than having one keyword-rich text for the entire website. 

In closure 

As stated earlier, there is no fixed anchor text ratio; everything depends on how you use the anchor text in the surrounding content.  If you can read the anchor text aloud within the content and it does not sound awkward, then you can keep it; otherwise, you need to modify it. In addition, check the steps that we have suggested so that you don’t trigger anchor text optimisation.  Keep checking your backlink audit profile and distribute your anchor text in exact, partial, and naked forms so that you can distribute it evenly.