The great "click here" debate
Friday, September 28, 2007
At the beginning of my multimedia journalism career, I used the phrase "click here" to direct users to different components of a multimedia project or web page. I never had a real reason, I just did it. Later, a mentor from the New York Times told me to eliminate click here in favor of more natural wording. She instead used a few words from a complete sentence as her link text. I used this same technique until I arrived at the Los Angeles Times where "click here" was absolutely necessary element of Flash projects and links were better if they blinked or were a very different color.
So who is right? A quick, unscientific Google search of the nation's 10 largest newspapers revealed that "click is here" is getting some major play.
Click heres per site
1. USA Today - 86,600
2. The Wall Street Journal - 462,000
3. New York Times - 11,300,000
4. L.A. Times - 7,140
5. Denver Post/Rocky Mountain News - 231,000
6. Chicago Tribune - 47,900
7. The Washington Post - 29,900
8. New York Daily News - 5,290
9. New York Post - 25,700
10. Houston Chronicle - 4,530
USA Today ranks highest amongst major news sites in Google Search for its use of the phrase. CNN and Fox News follow close behind.
A recent study shows that "click here" does indeed make users click here...or there. Another study found that "click to continue" works much better than "continue to article" or "read more." Do you use "click here?" If not, why?
So who is right? A quick, unscientific Google search of the nation's 10 largest newspapers revealed that "click is here" is getting some major play.
Click heres per site
1. USA Today - 86,600
2. The Wall Street Journal - 462,000
3. New York Times - 11,300,000
4. L.A. Times - 7,140
5. Denver Post/Rocky Mountain News - 231,000
6. Chicago Tribune - 47,900
7. The Washington Post - 29,900
8. New York Daily News - 5,290
9. New York Post - 25,700
10. Houston Chronicle - 4,530
USA Today ranks highest amongst major news sites in Google Search for its use of the phrase. CNN and Fox News follow close behind.
A recent study shows that "click here" does indeed make users click here...or there. Another study found that "click to continue" works much better than "continue to article" or "read more." Do you use "click here?" If not, why?
Labels: flash, site management
1 Comments:
I agree. "Click Here" is what all of us web users are used to looking for when it comes to finding links or getting more information on a topic. Color coding links is a good idea but still we all look for what is familiar ("CLick Here is.") News sites are all filled with photos and media that are colorful in their own respects, so a brightly colored link is not as likely to grab my attention as the tag line "Click Here" is. There is so much print media on websites and I believe retaining saomething that is consistant on every web page is important to keep the internet user friendly. If you go to one page and sentences are links, but you go to another site and they aren't, where are you supposed to go to get more information? I guess that I am a traditionalist and I am used to what has been around since the web made its debut. The internet is still young, so we could always adjust to a new method, although it might take awhile to catch on. Our youth is becoming so tech savvy that they would probably catch on to the idea more quickly. In my opinion the youth will really determine which method of gaining info is better becuase everythin in their generation involves the internet and computers are becoming such a necessity in life we might all have to make adjustments whether we want to or not.
commented by 
Anonymous, 3:52 PM
Anonymous, 3:52 PM 
