Click where?

Posted by Tommy on 20 Nov 2007 | Tagged as: Usability

I have always been a proponent of the don’t use “Click Here’s” for links rule. The idea that links which don’t clearly tell the user where they are going are confusing to users and should be replaced with more descriptive links; ideally identical to the title of the page or document being linked to. A user shouldn’t have to click on a link to find what it is linking to.

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Of course I failed to mention that anyone using a screen reader with a link roster is going to be presented with a series of ‘Click Heres’.
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However I have recently heard murmurings of research which suggests to the contrary. Because of the instructional call to action nature of a click here link it has been suggested that this actually encourages users to click on something. The user sees the words click here so does!

I’m yet to be convinced and would suggest that maybe it is because the user is left with little else to click (i.e. there are no other more descriptive links) or the other links are not necessary clearly identifiable as links.

Maybe a compromise would work: “Click to see our latest menu”.

This is definitely something I’m going to keep my eye on during my next round of user tests.

1 Comment »

One Response to “Click where?”

  1. on 10 Dec 2008 at 12:53 pm 1.willg said …

    I can well believe that putting ‘click here’ all over the shop encourages people to click, but whether they know why or what to expect, and whether they are satisfied with the result is what you need to test.

    Of course users not using a mouse aren’t clicking at all. Perhaps ‘Tab to here and press enter or click here if you have a mouse’. I’d go for ‘See XYZ’ for web contetn links and ‘Choose ABC’ for action buttons but I’m convinced a descriptive label is essential.