With a Click, Click here and a Click, Click there…
It’s 2011 and I still see designers, bloggers and some very big brands creating links that just say… “click here”. Come on people! Web design books and articles have been talking about this for years. Basically you shouldn’t create links that just say “click here”. Let me explain why I don’t think it’s a good idea.
Why you shouldn’t use click here:
- It doesn’t tell the user what to expect when clicking.
- Users have to read all the text surrounding the link.
- A search engine works out what a page is about by the words that link to it. By not using keywords you’re missing out on improved search engine positions.
- Click implies an action that some users might not have. Some users don’t use a mouse and therefore don’t click.
- Users of screen readers and those with a visual disability will find “click here” useless because they’re unable to see where “here” is and the phrase gives them no hint on what to expect.
By using the words click here you are requiring the user to read all the text around the words. If they don’t read all the text around a “click here” link they will have no idea why they should click, or what they are going to get! You are slowing users down by putting these links in. Most users want information now, they speed read and haven’t got time to read everything. Using click here is also a usability issue for some visitors, particularly those with sight disabilities.
When creating links, yes even internal links between your own web pages, you should:
- Use descriptive words.
- Keep it short.
- Incorporate the link into the sentence, rather than tacked on the end.
