Avoid Using 'Click Here' in Text Links
Sure, we've all done it at one time or another... but it's not a good idea.
Web Comm is recommending that all site editors refrain from using CLICK HERE in linked text.
It’s an established fact that most people don’t really read the content of a website – they scan it. Visitors SCAN your pages because...- They're just too busy to "read all that stuff"
- They are looking for something specific and once they find it, they're gone.
- There’s a lot of information out there that is competing for their attention.
While scanning your pages, site visitors want to not only locate links, but know where a link is going to take them. CLICK HERE tells the visitor nothing about the linked page.
"CLICK HERE" is Not Action-Oriented
People respond to action words, so content writers need to keep that in mind and encourage visitors to take the desired action when possible.
Example:
#1 Click here to read our newsletter.
#2 Read our newsletter.
The second example conveys the desired action and will be much more obvious when someone is scanning your content.
"CLICK HERE" is Not SEO-Friendly
Search engines, such as Google, use the strength of your links in their algorithm when they determine your placement in search engine results.
When you use “click here” as your link text, all that you’re doing is letting the search engines know that your content contains a link. If you want to help them estimate how relevant that link is start using keywords in the link text instead.Example:
#1 Click here to schedule a campus tour.
#2 Lets meet! Schedule your campus tour.
#3 Lets meet! Schedule a visit today.
Example #2 grabs the visitors attention and conveys the desired action. Example #3 uses text from the actual URL it's linking to. Both help search engines determine link relevancy.
"CLICK HERE" is Not Modern
During the early days of the Internet, people defended the use of “click here” on the grounds that if it weren’t used, most people wouldn’t know what to do when they came across a link.
A lot has changed since then. In the age of phones and tablets with touch screens, clicking is no longer the exclusive method of interacting with a web site.
It also presents issues for people with disabilities. Screen readers will tell the visitor "click here". Visitors using screen readers will not know where the link takes them and if it contains the content they're looking for.
If you continue to use “click here” in your content, you can give your visitors bad impressions, such as:
- You don’t respect their intelligence enough to know what a link is
- That your website or the content on it hasn’t been updated in years
- That you only care about those visitors using a device that allows for "clicking", leaving out visitors using screen readers and mobile devices.
Reasons to Avoid Using "Click Here"
- Search engines use the text in a link to help identify what the link is about. The link isn’t about “Click here”.
- It implies you have a device to click with. Not all users do, or chose not to use it.
- It's useless when taken out of context in a list of links.
- It's not descriptive. Hyperlinks stand out while users scan pages. Be descriptive!
