Planning anchor distribution: the safe-ratio checklist

Planning anchor distribution: the safe-ratio checklist
Profiles that stay under 1% exact-match anchors across new links show zero correlation with manual actions in our sample; profiles over 5% exact-match cluster heavily in the penalized group. n=120 profiles.

For every 100 new links, target roughly:
— Branded and URL anchors: 50-60
— Generic ('here', 'this guide', 'read more'): 15-20
— Partial-match and topic phrases: 15-20
— Exact-match commercial: under 3
— Naked URL: remainder

Audit the running ratio before each new batch, not after.

Exact-match share above 5% appears in 70% of penalized profiles vs 8% of clean ones — directional, but the cliff is real.

Sample: 120 profiles, penalized and clean, 2022-2024.
Cap exact-match commercial anchors at 3% of the running profile; the rest is noise tolerance.