<b>Hot take: exact-match internal anchors are safe and you're a coward for not using them.</b>

<b>Hot take: exact-match internal anchors are safe and you're a coward for not using them.</b>

Evthe fear of over-optimized anchors is a <i>backlink</i> concern. Internally, you own every anchor on the site. Google knows that. There's no manipulation to penalize — you're literally telling your own crawler what a page is about.

Yet people write "click here" and "this guide" internally because some 2013 blog scared them. You're handing Google a contextless link and hoping it figures the topic out.

Use the keyword. "Best CRM for agencies" beats "learn more" every time, internally, with zero risk.

Name one real case of an internal exact-match anchor penalty. I don't think you can.