02

Apr

2008

Do not click here!

Way back in the day, when the web was new, hyperlinks were pretty new fangled items. Many people had never seen them before, and thus didn't really know what to do with them.  The web designers of the time came up with a solution to get around this.  It was called Click here.

However times have moved on now.  The web is literally an everyday tool for everyday people.  The 'click here' is now implicit. So why do so many people continue to use it in their hyperlinks and their calls to action.

There are better ways to do things.

Why it's bad

Let's face it. Click here isn't that inspiring.

Win cash prizes!! Click here to find out how!

is not nearly as compelling as...

Free money!! Get it now!

Landing pages (like your website front page) and the call to action functions that they contain are designed to convert passing traffic for your business (If they're not then maybe you should do something about it). Its a numbers and percentages game. The more traffic that flows through the page, and the greater the % of traffic that is converted into business the harder the site is working for you. Every little bit counts, so gaining a couple of points in your conversion rate can often be a major coup.

So why use click here, when your customers would much rather jump, fly, explore or receive.

Best practice

The best practice is to simply type the text content that you want and then hyperlink the key terms.  Wikipedia is a great model for how it should be done.

Notes on search engine optimisation

Google and other search engines actually pay attention to the textual information that you put in a link.  Google wants to know where you are sending people, and will reward you appropriately by giving extra points to the key words in the link.

So of the two alternatives:

  1. we provide world class web design and development services in Carlton, Brunswick, Fitzroy and Collingwood. Click here.
  2. World class web design and development services in Carlton, Brunswick, Fitzroy and Collingwood.

The second is a much more powerful option from a SEO point of view.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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