KatLinks anchor usage tool helps identify your most used anchor texts and it calculates the anchor type ratio of each page. But first, we need to understand what are anchor texts and anchor types, as well as why they are important.
Anchor text is the text that makes up the clickable part of the backlink. For example, here is a backlink to Twitter. In this case, “Twitter” is the anchor text of the backlink.
Anchor types are the categories of the anchor texts ? Ok, let’s break it down a little bit more. Almost all (if not all) anchor texts (the text that makes up a backlink) can be organized into specific categories.
Here are the most common categories, along with some examples using our own keywords:
Key phrase: Important phrases that usually include a keyword or a variation of one.
Example: affordable SEO tool, easy to use SEO software, best tools for SEO
Exact match: These are exact ranking keywords with nothing else added
Example: SEO tool, SEO software, backlink monitoring
Brand: Your brand name as a stand-alone or combined in a phrase
Example: KatLinks, KatLinks tools, KatLinks SEO software
Natural: Normal navigation words with no keyword intent
Example: click here, website, visit now, learn more
URL: Common URL formatted text
Example: https://katlinks.com, https://app.katlinks.com
Website: Text only representation of the URL
Example: katlinks.com KatLinks.com
But wait, we are not done yet! The above categories are then grouped together like this:
? Brand + Natural (brand, natural, URL, website)
? Key Phrases
? Exact Match
A natural backlink profile will have a good mix of anchor-type groups.
Why is this important?
If a website has most of its backlinks with the same anchor type, for example, Exact Match, then search engines might determine that the backlinks are being fixed to manipulate search rankings. That’s a big no-no.
So what is a good ratio or balance of anchor types?
Based on industry standards the ratio varies by page type, for example, homepage anchors vs internal page anchors.
Note: Please remember that these are not rules, more like suggestions and good SEO practices.
Here are the recommended anchor type ratios by page type:
Homepage anchor ratios
Brand + Natural anchors: 80% to 95%
Key Phrases: 0% to 10%
Exact Match: 0% to 5%
From the above, it is clear that a natural-looking backlink profile for a homepage would be more focused on the brand and not on keywords.
In other words, if you are going to build backlinks for your homepage, the vast majority (80% to 95%) should use the brand name or other natural words in the anchor text.
Internal Page anchor ratios
Brand + Natural anchors: 35% to 45%
Key Phrases: 40% to 50%
Exact Match: 10% to 20%
On the internal pages, we can see how the recommended anchor ratios are different from the homepage. Now the focus is more on key phrases and not as much on brand.
Why this makes sense
You wouldn’t normally use your homepage to sell a specific service (unless it’s a one-pager or a landing page). The homepage is used to promote your brand and overall business category. On the other hand, your internal pages could be better optimized to rank for your products or services.
And on both cases, exact match anchors are part of the equation but are not being overused.
