The “click here” nightmare
I am absolutely astonished that there still are so many websites which label links with a resounding “click here”. It is, so far as I can recall, one of the oldest usability rules that a link label should provide users with a clue as to what happens if one clicks: what content one will access, what action/process is triggered etc. Additionally, the link labels will also help the scanning of a web page, and in particular the actionable part of it. Yet, there are millions of “click here” links still spread across the internet.
Compare the following examples:
Basic example -> To see the latest photos, click here
Intermediate example -> click here to see the latest photos
Good example -> See latest photos
Well, make up your minds.
Tags: Usability
4 People have left comments on this post
So what do you think about ‘Download is [link[here[/link].’? I usually do that so the entire line isn’t a link, but it is part of the link rather than superficial.
dman
Dman,
I’d rather link download and drop the “here” part. “Here” gives me no clue, and I’d be forced to find the clue in other words. Download tells me what will happen on click, i.e. a download, or at least a step closer to a download (presumably!). So, if you link here, I’ll probably read download anyway before clicking, while if you link download, I don’t need here at all.
By the way, I just saw that wordpress uses “click here”: to log out, click here - ah!! I will have to change it
vdllabs
Ok, I have now replaced the “to log out, click here” with “log out”. True to my beliefs!
Maybe we need the intermediate solution for a while since we’ve trained the users for so long with the “click here”
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