Free Anchor Text Checker — See Whether Your Link Text Is Descriptive, Generic or Over-Optimised
Paste a list of anchor texts, or the HTML of a page, and this anchor text checker sorts every anchor into branded, exact match, partial match, naked URL, generic or too long, shows how often each repeats and flags what Google's guidance warns about. It runs in your browser: nothing is fetched and nothing leaves your device.
Paste some anchors to start.
How the Anchor Text Checker Sorts Your Links
- Branded: the anchor contains your brand name
- Exact match: the anchor is exactly one of the keywords you entered
- Partial match: the anchor contains a keyword you entered inside a longer phrase
- Naked URL: the anchor is a web address
- Generic: "click here", "read more", "website", "article" and similar, which Google lists as too generic
- Too long: ten or more words, a working limit of ours. Google's example of a "weirdly long" anchor is a whole sentence
- Descriptive: everything else, which is the group you generally want
What Google Says About Anchor Text
Google's link best practices say good anchor text is descriptive, reasonably concise and relevant to the page it sits on and the page it links to. It gives "click here", "read more", "website" and "article" as examples of anchors that are too generic, and warns against cramming keywords into anchor text, noting that keyword stuffing violates its spam policies. It also suggests a simple test: read only the anchor text, out of context, and check that it makes sense by itself. Google gives no ideal percentage for each anchor type, so the tool reports counts and flags patterns instead of grading you against a ratio. Our guide to anchor text SEO shows what the anchors on a real site look like.
How to Get a List of Anchors to Check
- External anchors: open the Links report in Google Search Console and look at Top linking text, or paste the HTML of a page that links to you.
- Internal anchors: paste the HTML of a page on your own site. The tool reads every link text it finds.
- Competitor pages: view the source of a page, copy the HTML and paste it in. Nothing is sent anywhere.
For a deeper look at a single page's links, use the internal link checker, and use the dofollow link checker to see which links are qualified.
Anchor Text Checker FAQs
What is anchor text?
It is the visible, clickable text of a link. Google says it tells people and search engines something about the page you link to.
What is a good anchor text distribution?
Google gives no target percentages. Natural profiles tend to contain many branded and descriptive anchors and few exact-match ones. Use the tool to spot heavy repetition or generic anchors, not to chase a ratio.
Does the tool fetch my backlinks?
No. It analyses only the anchors or HTML you paste. Export your anchors from Search Console or paste a page's HTML.
Why is "too long" set at ten words?
It is our working limit, not a Google rule. Google calls an anchor that is a whole sentence "weirdly long", so the flag is a prompt to trim, not a penalty.
Are exact match anchors bad?
Not by themselves. Repeating the same keyword-rich anchor across many links, especially links you built, can look manipulative, and Google calls keyword stuffing a violation of its spam policies.
Does this tool store or send my data anywhere?
No. Everything is analysed in your browser with JavaScript — nothing is uploaded, logged, or stored on any server, including ours.
Want a link profile reviewed by a person?
Contomatix does audits, on-page work and link building for businesses and agencies.