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Don't use "click here" for link text

dont-click-here.com

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Re: Don't use "click here" for link text

#21

Post by hn_throwaway_99 »

nerdjon wrote: post #16

I think the better option is... why not both? Update the first example to something like: For additional order details, go to your account by clicking here. and `go to your account by clicking here` is the link.

Agreed, and I think a lot of his reasoning falls apart if you look at his specific examples:

> What will I see if I click a link labeled "click here"? I have no idea. Instead, choose link text that describes the destination.

Pretty much all of the examples are of the form of "To do action XYZ, click here". Why aren't you considering the "do action XYZ" part of the sentence?

> It confuses search engines

No, it doesn't. As he said previously, "this is not 1995" - search engines also take into account the context around links and images.

Most importantly, though, these are all just this guy's feelings. While I think A/B tests definitely have limitations, this type of small change is the kind of thing that can absolutely be probed scientifically (i.e. A/B tests, formal user studies, etc.) If you're in a company where people are strongly arguing one side or the other of this debate, I'd just use the famous quote by Jim Barksdale: "If we have data, let's look at data. If all we have are opinions, let's go with mine."

Re: Don't use "click here" for link text

#22

Post by xnx »

Amazingly, this has been the recommendation for at least the last 27(!) years: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/be-succinct-writing-for-the...

People who headed that advice benefited from better human usability and improved "SEO" performance due to keyword relevance.

Web tools should have warnings about "click here" text in the same way they do syntax errors.

Re: Don't use "click here" for link text

#23

Post by pphysch »

CPLX wrote: post #8

I dunno, seems pretty clear to me and it’s a super common approach. Is this science or just kind of a style question?

It's hard science as far as accessibility goes. A screen reader user wastes a lot of time if they have to differentiate what 10 different "click here" links mean.

Re: Don't use "click here" for link text

#26

Post by neilv »

xnx wrote: post #22

Amazingly, this has been the recommendation for at least the last 27(!) years: https://www.nngroup.com/articles/be-succinct-writing-for-the... People who headed that advice benefited from better human usability and improved "SEO" performance due to keyword relevance. Web tools should have warnings about "click here" text in the same way they do syntax errors.

Around 1994, I'm pretty sure I saw ordinary simple "how to make a Web page" tutorials that told you specifically not do "here" or "click here" links.

You were to instead make the link around relevant text.

(Also, early people often got hypertext just fine. The problem was print designers, who kept wanting to make the Web be glossy brochures. At first, they'd try things like making the whole page a GIF/JPEG, and would get laughed at, but they soon took over what a Web browser is, for the entire field. Over the decades, they'd then slowly rediscover ideas that were there from the beginning, and give them names like "responsive design" and "accessibility", and write books about them. On Monday, I had to battle with a Web site framework, to force something exotic called "server-side rendering", and also to make an `` element be a hypertext link that the Web browser loads as a Web page when the user chooses to follow the link.)

Re: Don't use "click here" for link text

#27

Post by wileydragonfly »

gregjor wrote: post #14

> But people won't know where to click? > It's not 1995. I agree in principle with the article. But I have spent time reading help desk tickets so I know that average users often don't know where to click unless you push their nose in it. I can't count how many times users have said "I was afraid to click the link" or "I don't know where that button will go" because the UI presented links and buttons with meaningful…

Well, it doesn’t help matters when CIOs berate us at town halls “the entire company blew up literally because someone clicked ONE LINK they shouldn’t have!!!!” and I’ve sat through many of those “blame the user” sessions.

Two factor has resulted in similar berating. “How dare someone click APPROVE at 2am?!” Well, they were trying to silence the phone when they were attempting to sleep. Why are you allowing pushes outside of business hours without an additional layer of security? Maybe that giant APPROVE button isn’t the best default option at 2am?

Re: Don't use "click here" for link text

#28

Post by ianhawes »

spondylosaurus wrote: post #12

Google developer style agrees, and encourages the following alternatives instead: - Make the link text match the exact text of the title or heading that you're referencing. EX: For more information, see [Load balancing and scaling]. - Write a description of the destination page to use as the link text, capitalized as if it's part of the sentence. EX: You can use Cloud Scheduler and Cloud Functions to manage [task sch…

This is ironic because supposedly Google also penalizes links which are "keyword stuffed".

Re: Don't use "click here" for link text

#29

Post by andai »

nerdjon wrote: post #16

I think the better option is... why not both? Update the first example to something like: For additional order details, go to your account by clicking here. and `go to your account by clicking here` is the link.

Came here to say this. 3/4 of the arguments don't apply to a link that says "click here to x".

It only leaves "It focuses on mechanics instead of content", though I guess the weight of that will depend on the context?

If we're talking about links that pweform actions, then the mechanics already outweigh the content.

Re: Don't use "click here" for link text

#30

Post by egypturnash »

On the other hand:

"Click here" screams "this is a link". It is not as obvious a call to click upon as a big shiny button, aching to be pressed, but it is more obvious than a few words that are in a harder-to-read color and underlined.

"You can go to _your_account_" is a much smoother sentence than "To change your account, click _here_". But is that always what you want? Do you want all your links to be smoothly integrated into the body text? Sometimes you do! Sometimes you don't.

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