When you create a hot link anywhere – your website, your email newsletters, in social media posts, etc. – NEVER use the words “click here.” Here’s why:
- People don’t read online. They’re scanning for words, and for something in particular: “get in touch,” “contact us,” “register for the master class.” The word click is uninformative. Let me know what my click will DO for me.
- It affects your search engine optimization (SEO). If a search engine is crawling your website, and all it “sees” is “click here,” your site isn’t telling the search engine anything useful. Search engines are “blind.”
- Speaking of “blind.” There are rules and best practices about “accessibility” (it applies more to U.S. government and official agencies). If a blind person is using a screen-reader. they often use a keyboard shortcut to list all the links on a page to navigate more efficiently. “Click here” provides no contextual information to screen readers.
Be a good online neighbor and make your links clear and easy to understand.
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