I was at my workout class this afternoon and had a little epiphany about linking text and how valuable it is to give clear instructions and use it wisely.
Did I mention I was at a workout class? 🙂 It was one of those where you are lifting weights to the beat of the music, which takes your mind off the hideous torture that it is to lift weights (but I digress…).
Every time we had to change what we were doing, the instructor would call out instructions. Sometimes she would say something like ‘here we go!’ and sometimes she would say ‘Let’s take that up for a clean and press’. Now – which do you think was easier to follow?
Let’s assume that I was on this website at this workout for the first time. Would I know what to do with ‘here we go’? Not necessarily. It is non-specific, non-directional and non…well, anything, except I knew I was suppose to do something.
But when the instructor calls out ‘Dead row – let’s do 4!’, I know exactly what my next step should be.
And that’s what good linking text does for your website user. Good linking text says ‘find out more about what our clients are saying’, instead of ‘click here’.
How about this – if they haven’t read the paragraph of text in front of the linking text, would a user still know where it was going to take them? Linking text should be a call to action. ‘Click here’ makes me want to say ‘Oh yeah? Make me’.
What does your linking text say to your users?
(BTW – if you are in the Kingston area and want to know what kind of exercise class made me think about this, check out Omega Fit Club – Group Power. Love it!)