Q: Internal link anchors — exact-match keyword or descriptive phrase?

Q: Internal link anchors — exact-match keyword or descriptive phrase?

Short answer: descriptive and varied for most links; exact-match sparingly, on the one link you most want to define the target page's topic.

Internal anchors aren't penalized the way external over-optimized anchors can be, but identical exact-match anchors on every link waste an opportunity — they tell Google the same thing repeatedly and read robotically. Varied, descriptive anchors cover more of the target's semantic range.

In practice: for a cluster post about 'topic cluster strategy,' link to it sometimes as 'how topic clusters work,' sometimes 'organizing content into clusters,' once as the exact 'topic cluster strategy.' Each anchor reinforces a different facet. Reserve the clean exact-match for the most authoritative source page pointing down to it. Variety in, relevance up.

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