If and only if client / boss insists. Its just too tacky for me.
Andrew - 15 years ago
I wish I didn't have to do it. I theoretically agree with Todd Prouty above; there's always a better way.
I spent several years, however, working phone and e-mail at a popular retail dot com and encountered an astoundingly large number of people who didn't understand what areas were clickable for more information without the explicit instructions "CLICK HERE." They could understand the large tabs at the top, but the standard royal blue underlined links were a mystery.
Thus, I tend to err on the side of caution, no matter how many self-proclaimed design gurus get irritated by it.
I answered "rarely," but the explanation for that is that I do it when my client/employer dictates the copy. I'd prefer not to, but I don't always have 100% control over those things.
Negs - 15 years ago
Despite what people say about users 'getting it', I think users still benefit from direct instruction. To me, there is no difference between 'click here for more detail' and 'get more details'. Some people even benefit from a physical cue - people who are kinesthetic learners, for example, have a hard enough time with the bodiless computer... Why not add some physical cues to assist?
I am so still small in the design world.. (beginner)
but i think when people started to write pages, they used "click here"
as sites navigational mechanism was still new, then people get used to it
These days we really dont need to say "click here"
each time we provide links..
I've been told hyperlinking the text Click here looks spammy so I try to avoid using it but IMHO it's not much different than saying Visit here for more details ..... For more information visit ..... More details are available at ..... etc etc, it's just a preference of presentation.
As someone who uses and has a fairly good understanding of the internet even if the text Click here is hyperlinked, I know I can preview the url by hovering my mouse over it. That's why for me I don't view it as a big deal.
The one thing I do think is a bad idea though is embedding bit.ly type of links in a post. Then there's no way of telling where you are being led to.
Never. Loads of reasons. It makes no sense if your reader's scanning the page for interesting links. Screen readers also list links separately: 'Click here' on its own makes no sense, whereas 'Download the latest version of xxx' does.
I think it depends in the context in which it is being used. I avoid it altogether when I'm writing copy - there are more SEO friendly ways of including a link.
However, on a button on an ecommerce site, sometimes it's better to be very obvious and very clear; still, I do prefer 'For 10% off, click here' to just saying 'click here', especially if image replacement is being used.
When I'm writing copy/content, I try to avoid it at all costs. I think it sounds ridiculous to say "Click Here". There are better ways to phrase your sentence that still prompts the user to click a link. Obviously there are some clients that just insist upon saying "Click Here"...so you must use it.
If the design has an informal, fun, or child like feel to it, then I might, but always on a "button" graphic, and only with strong suporting text.
Some thing like:
Did you know that [some fun fact about product]?
[starburst button]Click here to Fine out more!!![/starburst]
Mike - 15 years ago
Never. Ever. If someone's made it to your website, they already understand the conventions of the web so they don't need to be told to 'click here'. Having a link (as long as it is obvious it *is* a link!) that says "Download the latest update" instead of "Click here to download the latest update" is perfectly sufficient. Something like "Find out more about this project" is good too.
"Why Click Here is bad linking practice": http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/www/click.html
PatrickKanne - 15 years ago
Besides using it as part of a valid sentence (click here to [....] | for more on [...] click here) like is already said and will probably be said a couple more times, I might use it for it's cheese effect. ie; have a blinking bright yellow arrow with said text point to an obvious link, just for giggles ;). Only rarely though: the cheese should be obvious and not mistaken as a serious design failure.
Never! There's always a better way. To use Eli's example, how is "Download the latest update" as link text any less understandable than "Click here to download the latest update"?
The idea is to make your link visible and useful (to users and to search engines).
So, the idea is to use "Click here to download the latest update" as the link rather than "Click here" to download the latest update.
It also depends on how visible your links are, so if your link isn't underlined and doesn't contrast against body copy very well, you're gonna wanna make your link bigger so your user has a better chance of finding it.
Tom - 15 years ago
Well Click Here as the link text is horrible for SEO so not often, but it's really hard to avoid using for most sites
Usually it al depends on the needs of the "click here" button. Usually this type of button always go along with some brief description of something. "If you want more details" Click here. Well, maybe not the best option, but sometimes is needed :)
I'll use a link that includes the worlds "click here" from time to time. BUT the full text of the link will be something like "To find out more about the [name of promotion], click here". I would never use the text "click here" ON ITS OWN as a link.
If and only if client / boss insists. Its just too tacky for me.
I wish I didn't have to do it. I theoretically agree with Todd Prouty above; there's always a better way.
I spent several years, however, working phone and e-mail at a popular retail dot com and encountered an astoundingly large number of people who didn't understand what areas were clickable for more information without the explicit instructions "CLICK HERE." They could understand the large tabs at the top, but the standard royal blue underlined links were a mystery.
Thus, I tend to err on the side of caution, no matter how many self-proclaimed design gurus get irritated by it.
I answered "rarely," but the explanation for that is that I do it when my client/employer dictates the copy. I'd prefer not to, but I don't always have 100% control over those things.
Despite what people say about users 'getting it', I think users still benefit from direct instruction. To me, there is no difference between 'click here for more detail' and 'get more details'. Some people even benefit from a physical cue - people who are kinesthetic learners, for example, have a hard enough time with the bodiless computer... Why not add some physical cues to assist?
I am so still small in the design world.. (beginner)
but i think when people started to write pages, they used "click here"
as sites navigational mechanism was still new, then people get used to it
These days we really dont need to say "click here"
each time we provide links..
it was interesting reading ur all comments ^^
I've been told hyperlinking the text Click here looks spammy so I try to avoid using it but IMHO it's not much different than saying Visit here for more details ..... For more information visit ..... More details are available at ..... etc etc, it's just a preference of presentation.
As someone who uses and has a fairly good understanding of the internet even if the text Click here is hyperlinked, I know I can preview the url by hovering my mouse over it. That's why for me I don't view it as a big deal.
The one thing I do think is a bad idea though is embedding bit.ly type of links in a post. Then there's no way of telling where you are being led to.
Never. Loads of reasons. It makes no sense if your reader's scanning the page for interesting links. Screen readers also list links separately: 'Click here' on its own makes no sense, whereas 'Download the latest version of xxx' does.
I think it depends in the context in which it is being used. I avoid it altogether when I'm writing copy - there are more SEO friendly ways of including a link.
However, on a button on an ecommerce site, sometimes it's better to be very obvious and very clear; still, I do prefer 'For 10% off, click here' to just saying 'click here', especially if image replacement is being used.
When I'm writing copy/content, I try to avoid it at all costs. I think it sounds ridiculous to say "Click Here". There are better ways to phrase your sentence that still prompts the user to click a link. Obviously there are some clients that just insist upon saying "Click Here"...so you must use it.
If the design has an informal, fun, or child like feel to it, then I might, but always on a "button" graphic, and only with strong suporting text.
Some thing like:
Did you know that [some fun fact about product]?
[starburst button]Click here to Fine out more!!![/starburst]
Never. Ever. If someone's made it to your website, they already understand the conventions of the web so they don't need to be told to 'click here'. Having a link (as long as it is obvious it *is* a link!) that says "Download the latest update" instead of "Click here to download the latest update" is perfectly sufficient. Something like "Find out more about this project" is good too.
Sometimes I use it, but I know it's wrong.
"Why Click Here is bad linking practice": http://www.cs.tut.fi/~jkorpela/www/click.html
Besides using it as part of a valid sentence (click here to [....] | for more on [...] click here) like is already said and will probably be said a couple more times, I might use it for it's cheese effect. ie; have a blinking bright yellow arrow with said text point to an obvious link, just for giggles ;). Only rarely though: the cheese should be obvious and not mistaken as a serious design failure.
Never! There's always a better way. To use Eli's example, how is "Download the latest update" as link text any less understandable than "Click here to download the latest update"?
Sometimes.
The idea is to make your link visible and useful (to users and to search engines).
So, the idea is to use "Click here to download the latest update" as the link rather than "Click here" to download the latest update.
It also depends on how visible your links are, so if your link isn't underlined and doesn't contrast against body copy very well, you're gonna wanna make your link bigger so your user has a better chance of finding it.
Well Click Here as the link text is horrible for SEO so not often, but it's really hard to avoid using for most sites
Usually it al depends on the needs of the "click here" button. Usually this type of button always go along with some brief description of something. "If you want more details" Click here. Well, maybe not the best option, but sometimes is needed :)
I'll use a link that includes the worlds "click here" from time to time. BUT the full text of the link will be something like "To find out more about the [name of promotion], click here". I would never use the text "click here" ON ITS OWN as a link.
I think its always better to say "More details Here" and to give the same link ...
.. people are enjoying in exploring the internet ..