Thursday, October 18, 2007
Do Users Still Need to “Click Here”?
byThe phrase “click here” (and variations of it) has slowly faded in web content.
Directing users to click became mechanical, the online equivalent of asking book readers to turn the page or directing a television viewer to press the channel button. As the web evolved, users became proficient at identifying links through visual indicators (the standard underlined text) or by hovering over a word or phrase.
Links are now woven into text—sometimes underlined, sometimes not—and prompting users to click is typically unnecessary. Today, content filled with “click here” references quickly becomes distracting and downright annoying.
But is it unwise to completely disregard “click” commands as you write content?
In a recent study, MarketingSherpa tested calls-to-action within an e-mail (membership is required to access the full study). The phrase “Click to continue” generated the most conversions, followed by “Continue to article” and “Read more.”
The study sparked some spirited debate among bloggers, and GrokDotCom has a useful summary and follow-up. It raises a broader discussion about the “scent" of information—the notion that users seek a trail that helps them fulfill an information need or task.
In the MarketingSherpa study, “Click to continue” may have given users a better scent than the other two phrases. An effective link, as GrokDotCom notes, implies a clear benefit to the user and motivates them to act. In some cases, the best scent may include asking users to click—but it certainly doesn’t suggest returning to the days when “click here” filled every web page.
