Nathan Ashby-Kuhlman tackles "click here" text and the wording of online polls.
A new evolt.org article gives "courtesy titles and webform design recommendations."
In an interview with Digital Web Magazine, usability guru Jakob Nielsen shares his thoughts on a few news sites:
I also like the redesigned homepage CNN introduced about a year ago, with more of a focus on the top stories and a scannable list of smaller stories. For mobile access on a small PDA screen, MSNBC has better usability, though.
And another usability expert, Steve Krug, says good things about The New York Times Associated Press news headlines page:
There are lots of sites where you can see the latest AP stories, but I like the Times' page because the way it's formatted makes it very easy for me to scan it in a hurry.
Comments
Posted by Carl on November 20, 2002, at 8:08 p.m.:
Click here text: I remember not that long ago trying to click on some text on a site, thinking it was a link, when it was only being highlighted. So I can understand people doing the reverse, and needing more help to immediately see what is and isn't a link.
Nor do I believe in standard link colors, by the way. Links don't have to be underlined blue text if the text is worded well.
That being said, there are far more creative things to say than "click here"!
From a marketing standpoint, clicks should be sold. You want to direct people to do something. "Buy now" or "See more results" or whatever. You don't just give a title - you give a reason to click there.
"Click here" is outdated, but I certainly understand why many companies use it to try to encourage further exploration of their site.
Let's just hope they die off soon, and are replaced with more fluid transitional phrases.
Comments have been turned off for this page.