Of all the many topics we discuss on our web writing courses, there is one that will guarantee a lively debate - should we use ‘click here’ as a link phrase – or not?
The answer is not quite so cut and dried as some might want to make out and I fervently believe that we shouldn’t insist on an outright ban on the use of click here. Here are the pros and the cons:
Arguments against ‘click here’
I have seen many company web style guides, and met website managers who insist that web writers must never use ‘click here’ but as you will have read in the two arguments linked above - a more flexible approach is called for.
We should avoid its repetitive use and pay more careful attention to the wording of our links.
There are times when ‘click here’ can and should be used for best effect. But I would say that we should avoid its repetitive use and pay more careful attention to the wording of our links. For example, instead of:
For a biography of our chief executive, click here.
For an overview of our financial performance, click here.
For an insight into the structure of the group, click here.
You might consider something more persuasive on the lines of:
Read our new chief executive’s impressive track record
Learn about our strong financial performance
Check out the international scale of the group
It’s a common misconception that writing for the web is just about tighter writing, but ‘click here’ is just one of the many navigation and usability issues discussed as part of our web writing, editing and usability training courses.