Internal anchor text vs target H1 by site type (recovered link sample)
| Site type | Links matched to a crawled H1 | Share any word | Exact word match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stores | 14,477 | 81.9% | 41.9% |
| WordPress sites | 14,348 | 80.0% | 37.0% |
| Business sites | 47,675 | 81.0% | 34.6% |
| All | 76,500 | 81.0% | 36.5% |
Source: PageSpeed Matters, Oct 2026. Links sampled from the first 1,000 found on each site.
Summary
Internal anchor text is one of the few signals a site fully controls. The words in a link tell users and search engines what the target page is about. We wanted to know how often ranking sites use anchors that match the page they point to.
Most of the time, they do. 81.0% of 76,500 sampled internal text links on 167 crawled ranking sites use anchor text that shares at least one meaningful word with the target page's H1. More than a third of links go further and repeat the H1's words exactly.
What we measured
We crawled 293 ranking sites in October 2026, capped at 1,000 pages per site: 100 stores, 95 WordPress sites and 98 business sites, 195,708 URLs in total. The links come from the first 1,000 found on each site, so the link sample covers 167 sites and 76,500 internal text links whose target page was crawled with an H1. That is about a third of the original link set, so the results should be read as a modest sample.
For each link we removed stopwords from the anchor text and the target H1, then checked for overlap. A link counts as a match when at least one meaningful word appears in both. An exact match means the anchor's meaningful words are the same as the H1's. Word overlap is a loose proxy for keyword-rich anchors. It is not proof that a site optimised its links on purpose.
Most internal anchors echo the target's H1
81.0% of the 76,500 sampled links share at least one meaningful word with the target page's H1. If the 3,216 links with empty or stopword-only anchors count as non-matches, the share is 77.7%.
36.5% of the sampled links (27,888) use anchor text whose meaningful words exactly match the target page's H1 words. In practice, many anchors are simply the H1 itself. That is what you would expect from menus, product cards and related-post blocks, which often print the target page's title as the link text.
81.0%
Share of 76,500 sampled internal text links whose anchor shares at least one meaningful word with the target page's H1.
Site type barely changes the overlap
The overlap rate barely moves by site type: 81.9% on stores (14,477 links), 81.0% on business sites (47,675 links) and 80.0% on WordPress sites (14,348 links).
Exact matches differ more. Stores are the most likely to repeat the H1 word for word: 41.9% of sampled store links match it exactly, against 37.0% on WordPress sites and 34.6% on business sites. Store templates tend to link to products and collections using their names, which are usually also their H1s.
What this means for your site
Anchors that share words with the target page are the norm on ranking sites. Check your own templates and content for links whose text says nothing about the target, such as "click here" or "read more".
You do not need to copy the H1 into every link. A natural phrase that shares a key word or two with the target page usually gives enough context, and varied wording reads better than the same exact phrase repeated across the site. Start with the links inside your main content, since those are the ones you write by hand.
Sources
- PageSpeed Matters crawl of 293 ranking sites (up to 1,000 pages each), October 2026
- Google Search Central, link best practices (anchor text): https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/links-crawlable
Embed this research
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<p style="font:14px/1.5 system-ui,sans-serif">Source: <a href="https://www.pagespeedmatters.com/resources/data-studies/internal-anchor-text">Internal Anchor Text 2026: 81% Echo the Target's H1 - PageSpeed Matters</a></p>
Frequently asked questions
Should internal anchor text match the target page's H1?
Most ranking sites' anchors overlap with it. 81.0% of 76,500 sampled internal links share at least one meaningful word with the target H1, and 36.5% match its words exactly. A natural phrase that shares a key word is usually enough.
How often do stores use exact-match internal anchors?
More often than other sites. 41.9% of sampled store links match the target H1 word for word, against 37.0% on WordPress sites and 34.6% on business sites.
Clear, descriptive internal links are easy to fix in templates and content, and they help both users and search engines understand where each link leads. Need help with this? See our on-page SEO services.