The Evolution of the Phrase Click Here: From Web Staple to Obsolete

When you have a well-designed website, your visitors will not only have a great experience but will discover the content you want them to find. Size and placement of graphics and words used help visitors to know where to click. A well-designed website doesn’t only look great, it leads people to the pages they want to view. As we design websites and content management systems, clients sometimes ask, should we say, “Click here” so people know to click that?

Becky says you can be really descriptive with your alt text, because you have 1,000 characters to play with. RNIB social media lead Becky Brynolf says alt text can be a way of saying "we want you here" to users who rely on it "If you wouldn't take someone's guide cane to show off how well you can twirl it about, you absolutely shouldn't be misusing alt text for the sake of a joke." "Adding good alt text is such a quick win, I'm really surprised that more people don't do it," she says. But it used the alt text to make a serious point instead of cracking a joke. In a tweet that's been seen millions of times, the company posted its own version of the "click here" meme.

This practice is outdated but also ingrained in our collective consciousness. This can improve the user experience, help your SEO efforts, and—most importantly—heighten the user experience. Plus, they focus on the mechanics of using a mouse, which, let’s face it, as touchscreen devices start to dominate the market, is not always the case. They can also negatively impact your SEO and are exclusionary to those relying on assistive technologies, such as screen readers. We’ll admit, poor old “click here” is getting a rough ride in this blog post!

This is my one-man crusade to rid the internet of click here.

Sorry that was quite a run on sentence. For a large portion of my career, I hyperlinked frequently within copy by asking users to click here. Linking out to documentation, privacy policies, blog articles, you name it.

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The same outcome as Figure 1 but with clearer navigation Again, UI elements are being referred to, as well as the often-used “Click here” without any context as to where the user might be taken. Finally, using the term "Click" isn't inclusive as vision-impaired users may not be using a mouse, but their keyboard instead. This could create a poor and confusing experience.

It is especially annoying for people with visual impairments who use screen readers to navigate around your website. What additional incredibly fascinating information is hiding behind “Learn more” that is so compelling that you have interrupted their thought process? Not only does this narrow the choice to one link for one lead task, but it is easier for screen reader software to announce the link and direct visitors listening to the page. The button label is the invitation to “See why we do what we do” and link that to their story. The button can be larger and placed in line with the model’s eye gaze.

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There is an argument that web users know that a click means a press or that reading means consuming. I counter this by suggesting that you want your writing to come across as well as it can, even if the only audience is you. Search engines don’t only look at links from other sites to yours. If we have a website that everyone links to with the word “cat”, we would not expect it to rank well for the word “dog”. I’ve worked in plenty of teams and companies where accessibility is a nice-to-have.

I enjoy breaking down language barriers, exploring various dialects and foreign phrases – I have a knack for teaching how to correctly pronounce tricky words or phrases. In conclusion, expressing the phrase “click here” can be done formally or informally, depending on the context. When it comes to using the phrase “click here,” there are various ways to express it depending on the level of inkybet formality and the context in which it is used. Picture this—you’re reading through a website trying to find a link to a resource that you urgently need, but all the hyperlinks that you encounter say “Click here” or “Read more.” You don’t know what the links are about.

The call to action (CTA) “Our customer service team is best-in-class. When they go through the links on your page, context and specificity are essential. People who are visually impaired use screen readers to navigate the internet. How many times have you used “click here” on your website? With these alternatives, you can make the switch easier.

• Sorry that was quite a run on sentence.
• He writes/tweets about Google ranking signals, SEO best practices, experiments, tactics, and industry updates.
• And let’s be real, making your site accessible is not just good practice; it’s the right thing to do.
• Phrases like “buy a product here” or “try the trial today” are much better.

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In other words, it has been around long enough for people to understand what will happen if they click a link. The only way to do so is to hover over or follow each one, which is counterintuitive. If the result isn’t what users expect, they will quickly leave — and trust your website less.

Screen readers, when scanning content will announce Link (when is such) and then continue reading aloud the content. I took this as a learning opportunity and here are my findings. I hadn’t even thought of the implications that a click here link could have on accessibility.