Choose internal link anchor text that describes the destination page in a few natural words, fits the sentence around it, and changes from link to link instead of repeating one exact keyword. At Peak Marketing, we treat every internal link as a short promise to the reader about what they will find after the click.
That approach lines up with Google’s own guidance. Its link documentation says good anchor text is descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant to both the page it sits on and the page it points to. Everything below is a practical way to meet that standard on a real site with hundreds of pages.
Why does anchor text matter for internal links?
Anchor text is the visible, clickable wording of a link. Search engines read it as a label for the page on the other end. When ten pages on your site link to your local SEO service page with words about local SEO, Google gets a consistent signal about what that page covers.
Readers use the same label. A clear anchor tells someone whether the click is worth their time. A vague one, like “learn more,” asks them to guess, and many won’t.
Internal links are also the one type of link you fully control. You can’t choose the words another website uses when it links to you. You can choose every anchor on your own blog posts, service pages, and location pages. That makes internal anchor text one of the most practical on-page SEO levers available.
Google also states that every page you care about should have a link from at least one other page on your site. A page with no internal links pointing to it is harder to discover and harder to rank, no matter how well it is written.
What types of anchor text work best internally?
Most internal links should use descriptive or partial-match anchors, with exact-match and branded anchors used occasionally. Here is how each type looks for a hypothetical page about local SEO pricing.
| Anchor type | Example | Best use |
| Exact match | local SEO pricing | A few key links from closely related pages |
| Partial match | what local SEO typically costs | Most blog-to-service links |
| Descriptive phrase | how we build a local SEO budget | Links inside explanatory paragraphs |
| Branded | Peak Marketing’s local SEO team | About pages, case studies, author bios |
| Generic | click here, read more | Avoid in body content |
| Naked URL | peakmarketingus.com/local-seo | Rarely useful internally |
Exact-match anchors carry less risk on internal links than on backlinks, since Google’s link spam concerns center on links placed on other sites. The bigger internal problem is sameness. Fifty identical anchors pointing at one page add no new context after the first few, and they read as mechanical to visitors.
Partial-match and descriptive anchors give search engines related phrasing, which helps a page rank for the cluster of searches around its main keyword, not just one string.
How do you choose anchor text for a specific internal link?
Work from the destination page backward, then check the sentence and the rest of your site. This is the process our content team follows when placing links in a new post.
- Identify the destination page’s target keyword. Open the page you are linking to and look at its title tag and H1. The anchor should relate to the search that page is meant to win.
- Read the sentence where the link will live. The anchor has to fit the grammar naturally. If the keyword sounds forced, rewrite the sentence instead of bending the anchor.
- Pick the shortest phrase that still sets an expectation. “Our guide to Google Business Profile categories” tells a reader far more than “this guide,” and it is still only a few words.
- Check what anchors already point to that page. A crawler like Screaming Frog or the internal link report in Ahrefs or Semrush will list every inbound anchor. If most of them are identical, choose a variation.
- Confirm the anchor doesn’t already point somewhere else. If “local SEO” links to your service page in one post and to a blog article in another, you are sending mixed signals about which page owns that topic.
- Read the anchor on its own. Screen reader users often move through a page by its list of links. An anchor that makes sense out of context works better for them and for search engines.
A quick example: a dental practice blog post about teeth whitening might link to the practice’s cosmetic dentistry page. “Cosmetic dentistry options” works. “Our cosmetic dentistry services in Boise” also works on a location-focused post. “Click here to see more” does nothing for either the reader or the page.
Which anchor text mistakes weaken internal linking?
Most internal linking problems come from habits, not strategy. These are the ones we find most often during site audits.
Stuffing the full keyword phrase into the link
An anchor like “best affordable family dentist near me in Meridian Idaho” is too long and reads as written for a crawler. Google’s guidance puts it plainly: if it feels like you are forcing keywords into the anchor, it is probably too much.
Chaining links next to each other
Two or three links placed back to back make it hard for readers to tell them apart. Each link also loses the surrounding text that helps explain it. Give every link its own sentence or clause.
Leaving image links without alt text
When an image is a link, Google uses the image’s alt attribute as the anchor text. A linked logo or banner with empty alt text passes along no context at all.
Hiding anchor text behind JavaScript
Some page builders insert link text with scripts. If the text doesn’t appear in the rendered HTML, Google may not see it. The URL Inspection tool in Search Console shows what Google actually renders.
Linking only from the navigation menu
Menu links help, but contextual links inside body copy carry more descriptive value. A service page that only appears in the header is missing the supporting signals that in-content links provide.
Get your internal links working with Peak Marketing
Good internal anchor text is short, specific, and honest about where the link goes. Match it to the destination page’s topic, let it fit the sentence, and vary the wording across your site so each link adds a little new context. Then audit what you already have, because most sites carry years of “click here” links and duplicate anchors that quietly dilute their best pages.
If you want a second set of eyes on your site’s internal linking, Peak Marketing can run an internal link and anchor text audit and show you exactly which pages need stronger support. Reach out to our team to get started.
Sources
- Google Search Central, “Link best practices for Google”: developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/links-crawlable
- Wordtracker, “Google issues new best practices for links”: wordtracker.com/blog/seo/google-issues-new-best-practices-for-links
