How many times a day do you see “click here” when browsing the web? Chances are that you see it a fair few times but you overlook them. This link text and others like it give no context to links, providing a bad user experience.
Here’s why you need to stop using “click here” and what to use instead.
What’s So Bad About “Click Here”?
To understand why links like this need to be avoided, it requires us to look at three different areas:
- User Focus
- Accessibility
Google Ranking
Firstly, if you’re publishing content online then it likely means you want it to be found by search engines like Google. Hyperlinks are one of the main elements that Google evaluates when crawling your page/posts, along with page titles and headings, looking for keywords that provide context to the content. If your hyperlinks are weak and don’t include the keyword, Google won’t take any notice of them, ultimately impacting your search engine rankings.
User Concentration
Research shows that users only read 20-28% of content on any given page,1 with users instead skim reading content. Hyperlinks and buttons stand out on a page, due to their different colour and underline, therefore playing an important role in information exploration. If your links are a generic “learn more”, users are likely to scan right past.
Website Accessibility
One of the most important reasons to ensure your links are using the correct format is due to accessibility. As a given, your website should be accessible to all users including those that are visually impaired. What issues do generic links make for disabled users?
Firstly, let’s take a look at what the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) recommends. The WCAG is an international standard for digital accessibility, with their guidance on link purpose as follows:
The purpose of each link can be determined from the link text alone or from the link text together with its programmatically determined link context.
Users with disabilities and visual impairments often use Assistive Technology to help navigate and consume website content, with technology that jumps around the page and identifies important features, such as page titles, links, etc. These tools create a list of buttons and links that users can use to decide what to navigate through to, which is where “click here” becomes an issue – it provides zero context for the user as they don’t know content the link refers to, and therefore they don’t click and don’t convert.
Additionally, screen readers must read aloud the entire link text; if you’re using long text or the whole URL structure, the user will likely get frustrated listening to the whole link.
This also raises the question over the use of the word “click”. Many users won’t use a traditional mouse to navigate your website, and may instead use voice controls, press a controller button, press a number pad, nod their head, or press a key (such as the Enter key) to activate a link. Thus the use of “click” becomes redundant.
Hyperlink Tips
We’ve explained what not to do when it comes to creating link text, so what should you do? Here’s a list of simple tips on creating accessible and user friendly hyperlink text:
- Ensure your link text contains clear and accurate text, telling user what they will find when clicking on a link
- Describe the destination of the link
- Make the main action text the hyperlink, e.g. “Read our guide to using Google Gemini”
- Avoid using URLs as link text, as they are not readable and hard for visually impaired people to navigate and understand context
- Use page titles as link text
- Provide context for the link in the text that precedes the link
- Start with a keyword
Overview
It may be time to give your links and buttons an overhaul to ensure that they meet WCAG guidelines and follow best practices. By ensuring your link text follows these recommendations, you make your website more accessible, help boost SEO, and create content that users want to read, ultimately helping with conversions and your business reputation.
1 NN Group
