What is a generic anchor?
A generic anchor is link text that tells you nothing about the page it links to. In the sentence "To see our pricing, click here", the anchor "click here" is generic: lifted out on its own, it could point anywhere.
<!-- Generic anchor -->
To see our pricing, <a href="/pricing">click here</a>.
<!-- Descriptive anchor -->
See our <a href="/pricing">pricing for small teams</a>.Common generic anchors include "click here", "read more", "learn more", "here", "this", "website", "this article", "source" and "link". Ahrefs groups them as "random" or "generic" anchors: unspecific phrases unrelated to any target keyword [3].
Generic anchors are one of the standard anchor text types, alongside exact-match, partial-match, branded, naked URL and image anchors [2] [3].
Are generic anchors bad for SEO?
Generic anchors are bad for SEO on your own pages, because they waste the chance to tell readers and Google what the linked page is about. Generic anchors are not bad in your backlink profile, because real people link that way all the time.
Those are two separate questions, and most guides blur them:
| Where the generic anchor is | Effect | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Your own internal links | Google and readers get no context about the destination | Rewrite as descriptive text |
| Links you place to other sites | Readers can't tell where the link goes | Rewrite as descriptive text |
| Backlinks other sites give you | Normal, natural pattern | Leave them alone |
What does Google say about generic anchor text?
Google says anchor text should be "descriptive, reasonably concise, and relevant to the page that it's on and to the page it links to" [1], and gives "Click here to learn more", "Read more", "website" and "article" as examples of anchor text that is too generic [1].
Google's test is simple: "Try reading only the anchor text (out of context) and check if it's specific enough to make sense by itself" [1]. "Click here" fails. "List of cheese types", Google's own good example, passes [1].
Google also warns against the opposite mistake. Anchor text stuffed with keywords is a violation of Google's spam policies [1], so the fix for a generic anchor is a natural description, not a keyword.
Why are generic anchors an accessibility problem?
Generic anchors are an accessibility problem because screen reader users often jump from link to link, hearing each anchor without the sentence around it. A page with five "click here" links gives them five identical choices and no way to tell them apart. "Click here" is recommended against on grounds of usability and accessibility [2].
Google's Lighthouse tool checks this with its descriptive link text audit. HTTP Archive's 2024 Web Almanac found that 91% of mobile home pages and 84% of desktop home pages pass the audit, and 92% of mobile and 86% of desktop inner pages [4]. Put the other way, about one site in ten still has generic link text that Lighthouse flags on its home page.
Do generic anchor backlinks help rankings?
Generic anchor backlinks still count as links, but the anchor itself adds little or no relevance signal. In Ahrefs' 2019 study of 384,614 pages ranking for 19,840 keywords, random and generic anchors showed an average correlation with rankings of just 0.0161, against 0.1436 for exact-match anchors [3]. Both figures are weak, and correlation does not show cause.
The words around a generic anchor may matter more than the anchor. In a second test of 16,000 pages whose links all used random anchors, Ahrefs found a small positive correlation (0.0640) when the target keyword appeared in the text surrounding the link [3]. That is a weak signal, but it fits Google's own advice that anchor text works with its context [1].
Google has never published a target share of generic anchors, so any advice that a profile needs a set percentage of "click here" links to look natural is a guess, not a rule.
When did generic anchors become part of anchor text strategy?
Generic anchors became part of anchor text strategy after Google's Penguin update in 2012, when SEOs began mixing generic and branded anchors into link building to avoid profiles full of exact-match keywords. Before that, link builders mostly chased keyword anchors.
2007: Google limits Google bombs
In January 2007, Google announced it had updated its algorithm to minimize the impact of Google bombs, pranks that used repeated anchor text to make a page rank for an unrelated phrase [2]. The episode showed how heavily anchor text had been weighted.
2012: Penguin and the diversified profile
Google launched Penguin on April 24, 2012 [5]. After Penguin, the advice shifted toward "a diversified link profile, which has a mix of anchor text and other types of links" [2], and generic anchors became one of the tools for that mix.
2019: data on generic anchors
Ahrefs' study, published February 26, 2019, measured generic anchors across 384,614 ranking pages and found near-zero correlation with rankings [3].
2024: still common on live sites
The 2024 Web Almanac's Lighthouse data shows that generic link text is still present on roughly one home page in ten [4].
What is the difference between a generic anchor and a branded anchor?
The difference between a generic anchor and a branded anchor is that a branded anchor names the business, while a generic anchor names nothing. "Read more on Search Insider" contains a branded anchor if the link is on "Search Insider". "Read more here" with the link on "here" is generic.
Both are considered natural, safe anchor types in a backlink profile. A branded anchor carries more meaning, because it ties the link to an entity. A generic anchor carries almost none.
Should you build links with generic anchors?
You should not build links with generic anchors on purpose to make a profile look natural. If links are earned, generic anchors appear by themselves, because that is how people write. Manufacturing "click here" links to dilute a keyword-heavy profile is still building links to manipulate rankings.
On your own site, do the opposite: replace generic anchors with short, descriptive text. A quick check is to search your templates and content for "click here", "read more" and "learn more", then rewrite each so the anchor makes sense read alone [1]. For "read more" buttons on blog lists, include the post title in the link text or give the button an accessible name that does.