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Anchor Text Distribution Checker

Classify pasted anchor text as exact, partial, branded, naked URL, generic or image and chart the percentage split against a natural-profile guideline.

Export your backlink anchors from whichever tool you already use, paste them here, and the classification runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded and no backlink data is fetched.

What is the Anchor Text Distribution Checker?

Export the anchors from whichever backlink tool you already pay for, paste them here with your target keyword and brand terms, and every anchor is sorted into one of six buckets: exact match, partial match, branded, naked URL, generic, or image and empty.

  • Six buckets: exact match, partial match, branded, naked URL, generic and image or empty
  • Built-in generic-phrase list covering click here, read more and their relatives
  • Percentage bars with counts and a guideline range per category
  • Unclassified anchors kept in a separate Other bucket instead of being guessed at
  • Per-anchor table plus a CSV export of the whole classification
  • Runs locally — no backlink API, no upload, no account

How to use the Anchor Text Distribution Checker

  1. 1

    Enter your target keywords, one per line or comma separated.

  2. 2

    Enter your brand terms and bare domain so branded anchors are recognised.

  3. 3

    Paste your anchors one per line, optionally followed by a pipe and the destination URL.

  4. 4

    Read the distribution bars — anything over its guideline band turns red.

  5. 5

    Export the classified list as CSV to track the profile over time.

About the Anchor Text Distribution Checker

Export the anchors from whichever backlink tool you already pay for, paste them here with your target keyword and brand terms, and every anchor is sorted into one of six buckets: exact match, partial match, branded, naked URL, generic, or image and empty. The split is charted with counts, percentages and a guideline band for each category.

The point is proportion, not any single link. A profile that is almost entirely exact-match keyword anchors looks manufactured; one dominated by brand mentions, bare URLs and ordinary phrases like 'read more' looks like something people actually built. Anything the rules cannot place lands in an Other bucket rather than being forced into a category.

Classification runs entirely in your browser — no backlink data is fetched and nothing you paste is uploaded. The guideline bands are a widely used rule of thumb from link-building practice, not a published Google threshold.

Frequently asked questions

What is a natural anchor text distribution?

In practice most healthy profiles are dominated by branded and naked-URL anchors, with generic phrases next and only a small slice of exact-match keywords. The bands shown here reflect that common pattern; they are practitioner guidance, not a Google-published rule.

How much exact-match anchor text is too much?

There is no official threshold, but a profile where exact-match keyword anchors dominate is the classic footprint of bought or self-built links. Treat a large exact-match share as a prompt to diversify rather than as a prediction of a penalty.

Why is my bare domain counted as a naked URL?

Because that is the conventional classification: an anchor that is just the address, with or without the protocol, is a naked URL. If you want it counted as branded, remove your domain from the brand terms box and it will still be recognised by name.

Where do I get the list of anchors?

From whichever backlink tool you already use — Search Console's links report, Ahrefs, Semrush, Majestic or a crawl export all work. Copy the anchor column, optionally paired with the target URL, and paste it in.

Does anchor text still influence rankings?

Yes, anchor text remains one of the ways search engines learn what a page is about, both for internal links and inbound ones. The risk is not in using descriptive anchors but in an unnaturally uniform pattern across a whole backlink profile.

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