HTML allows us to make any part of a sentence a link. But using “click here” as a call to action restricts it’s impact and meaning. A few simple changes to a sentence can improve usability, SEO and traffic, which can only help to increase revenue.
Several advantages when avoiding the use of “click here”.
- Descriptive link text will increase SEO
- Explains what the link will provide the user
- Meaningful in any context, e.g. if the content is printed
- Links can be longer than one or two words which will be easier to see and activate
- Not everyone will click (some may hit ‘Enter’, ‘Tap’ or use shortcut keys)
- Doesn’t stall the user by making them think “what happens if I do click?”
Here’s how a recent news article could have been improved using this approach.
Using “click here”…
Click here to read more about our latest safety advances, or here to book a test drive in the Insight.
Using meaningful link text…
Discover more about our latest safety advances, or book a test drive in the Insight.
Don’t just take it from me, the W3C recommend not using “click here”.
I stumbled arcoss this handly shortcut in Windows the other day. You can CTRL+Click multiple windows on the task bar, right click one of them & then select Close (or any other option). Very useful if you have loads of windows open which you would like to close at once.