Anchor text is the clickable wording that holds a link. It is a small detail with outsized consequences: get the mix natural and it quietly reinforces your relevance; get it over-optimised and it becomes one of the loudest spam signals you can send. Here is how to get it right.
When real people link to you, they use all sorts of wording; your name, your URL, a description, a stray "check this out". That messiness is what a genuine profile looks like. If half your links suddenly use the same commercial keyword, it signals that the links were placed deliberately to manipulate rankings. Branded and naked-URL anchors should dominate; exact-match commercial anchors should be the rare exception, used only where it reads naturally.
Google's Penguin systems were built specifically to catch manipulative link patterns, and aggressive exact-match anchors are near the top of the list. This is one reason paid placements need a light touch with anchors; a topic covered in should you buy backlinks. When you audit your profile against the quality checklist, anchor distribution is one of the first things to review. New here? Start with what backlinks are.
Simple rule: never choose anchor text to please an algorithm. Choose the words a real writer would naturally use, and your distribution stays safe by default.