Using “Click Here” as Link Text - The Debate
Saturday, September 29th, 2007Categories: Web Usability
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This week’s installment in the Web Usability series will discuss the two main ways to link text. What this article does is compare the use of links like: Click here for car parts versus links like: Information on car parts. Just as a small reminder, this article may be contradicting statements I’ve made in previous articles where I detailed the importance of link text. Reader beware 
The Two Different Types of Links
The way I’m thinking, is that a link can be categorized under two different link types: Keyword Links and Action Links.
Keyword Links
Keyword Links are links that are typically keyword-rich where the user is not given an action to use the link. Examples include:
- I have another blog on dogs named Frederic.
- On your blogroll: A Blog For Web People
- Why can’t I access my account?
Action Links
Actions Links are links where the user is enticed to click on the link. I can better illustrate what I mean by using examples:
- click here to see my other blog about dog’s named Frederic
- read more about A Blog for Web People
- Don’t know why you can access your account? See this page.
Why Use Keyword Links?
Keyword Linking has been a method that some say improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Google’s algorithm (the way it figures out how high sites place on what searches) would associate the link text with the destination page. If this is the case, people see use in using keyword-rich links and that reason alone would make someone go this route.
Of course, I’m assuming you’ve taken the time to style links different enough for your average visitor to decipher the difference between paragraph text and link text. Keyword-rich links shouldn’t be a problem if they don’t indicate some sort of action, right? People see an underline, or a different link color and instantly think: “link” and would click on it if it interested them, right?
An example I thought about is Wikipedia. Wikipedia somehow manages to rank very high for really competitive keywords. As an example, at the time of writing, Wikipedia placed 3rd for “sex“. Is this a result of internal Keyword Links? I think so. I don’t think I’ve ever read a Wikipedia article where Action Links have been used.
Why Use Action Links?
An article by Copyblogger suggests that they had more click-throughs for links that included actions. The “Click here for ____” returned more clicks because it told users exactly what it is they should do.
Someone would likely use Action Links when giving your target a backlink isn’t important. If the website’s link’s sole purpose was to get someone to click on the link instead of have it as a resource, that would be a reason to use an Action Link.
Solution
It seems pretty straight-forward. Before you make a link, what you could do is to determine whether or not the link is something you want people to click on. If that’s your sole goal, use an Action Link. If what you’re more interested is building keyword linking up between various sections of your website and for members of your blogroll, use Keyword Link.
If you’re teeter-tottering between the two, one solution would be to use an Action Link, but use strong keywords in your link’s title=”" attribute. Example:
Click <a href=”http://www.pat-burt.com” title=”info on Web Usability”>here</a> for more information on Web Usability
That seems like a nice compromise, no?
That’s all for this week’s installment in the Web Usability series. Click here for other articles in this same category. 
Hunt Valley Maryland
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October 4th, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Great site! I found it through Google looking for design dimensions for 1024×768.
Anyway, I’m going to disagree with you slightly on this one. I have a problem with your use of action links. The problem is that most people (like 70%) only scan webpages instead of reading them. When I was scanning the two example sections, the links jumped out. In the keyword example, I saw “dogs named Fredrick”, “A Blog For Web People”, and “Why I can’t access my account?” In the second example, all that I saw was “here”, “more”, “this page.” I don’t think the second example would get a high click through rate.
But I think you’re right that action links are useful, I would just recommend that you slightly modify them. Instead of your method, I’d try “See my other blog about dogs named Fredrick,” “Read a Blog For Web People,” or “Read more information on Web Usability.” I think making an entire sentence a link would be far more effective as an action link. You get the action and the keyword context together.
October 29th, 2007 at 11:38 am
I’ve always heard that the “Click here” link was a no-no. Jakob Nielsen (love him or hate him) cautions against using it as well. My main argument is that it’s redundant. Users know to “click here” when they want to visit another page - why tell them? The hyperlink does it for you, freeing up the words for something more useful that describes the page you’re going to visit.
October 29th, 2007 at 11:42 am
Hi Peege, thanks for the comment.
Jakob (love him;)) does state that. Links are already indicative that a user can click on it to go somewhere else. However, the argument I’m using is that when the link is associated with an action, it will get higher click-through rates.
For example, it would make sense that if you had two ads advertising mortgages, the ad run with a call-to-action such as “go to your nearest bank location and sign up for a mortgage” would produce better results compared to an ad without a call-to-action.