Click here

Click here for…… Click here to see…… Click here…… Click where sorry, is that a link?

Click here is a commonly used term across the Internet for links to various things weird and wonderful, but is it the best text to use for a link? No is our answer!

Here are a few examples why.

Search Engine Optimisation

When putting together a website, the first thing you should think about is Search Engines, let’s face it, if your not doing it right in their eyes then nobody is going to find you. Search Engine Optimisation should be at the heart of your website planning, it is something we urge our customers to think about all of the time.

Having click here as your link is useless, Google and other search engines follow links on the page to see where they go and if links are meaningful. If your link says click here and then the user is taken to a page about ‘mint choc chip ice cream’ the two don’t tie up. A link should tell the user what to expect, if you’re linking to a page about mint choc chip ice cream tell the user about it.

For example, ‘check out our mint choc chip ice cream selection’

Search engines will then register that your target page is about mint choc chip ice cream and will rank you higher.

Designing Links

If your links are designed so they stand out you won’t have a need to use the term click here. It should be obvious to the user that they can click, for example, add an underline or a bold change of colour which is obvious, even to those with poor eye sight.

If it doesn’t stand out as being different the link isn’t going to do it’s job.

Accessibility

You’ve got to remember, not everyone can see your nice pretty styled link on the page, what about blind users who rely on screen readers to tell them what’s on the page? Does click here mean anything to them?

The experts at W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) provide this click here advice.

When calling the user to action, use brief but meaningful link text that:

• Provides some information when read out of context
• Explains what the link offers
• Doesn’t talk about mechanics
• Is not a verb phrase

Content Flow

Another angle to take is whether your content reads nicely, I find when reading websites if the same things are repeated or if all links say the same thing I get distracted and annoyed, or maybe that’s just me.

Read your content through again and again, or better still get someone with an unbiased and fresh set of eyes to take a look.

Morale of the story

I guess the morale of this story is to take time with your content, think it through and ask yourself whether it makes sense to your new potential customers.

• Think about links on your site, both internal and external
• All links should make sense
• Take the user to where they clicked to go

If your content doesn’t make sense, change it quick!