Anchor text is the visible, clickable text in a hyperlink. When someone links to your website, the words they use as the link text send a signal to search engines about what your page is about.
Types of anchor text:
- **Branded:** Your brand name (e.g., "Disavow" or "Disavow.ai") - **Exact match:** The exact keyword you want to rank for (e.g., "toxic backlink checker") - **Partial match:** Contains your keyword plus other words (e.g., "best tool for checking toxic backlinks") - **Naked URL:** Just the URL itself (e.g., "https://www.disavow.ai") - **Generic:** Non-descriptive text (e.g., "click here" or "read more") - **Image:** When the link is an image, the alt text serves as the anchor
Why anchor text matters in backlink audits:
Anchor text distribution is one of the strongest signals of link manipulation. A natural backlink profile should have a mix of anchor types. If more than 30% of your backlinks use exact-match anchor text, Google may see this as an attempt to manipulate rankings and could penalise your site.
Red flags to watch for:
An unusually high percentage of exact-match anchors, foreign-language anchors from unrelated sites, and anchors containing spam keywords like "buy cheap" or "casino online."
How Disavow helps:
Our Anchors tab automatically categorises all your anchor text into 7 types and shows you the distribution. If your exact-match percentage is too high, we flag it with an amber or red health banner and explain what to do. Unusual anchor text patterns are often a sign of manipulative link building — see our <a href="/blog/what-are-private-blog-networks" class="text-amber-400 hover:text-amber-300 underline">guide to private blog networks</a> for more on how this works.