Links are critical to good web pages. Links are scanned by your web visitors. Links connect pages into a flow that can help users accomplish tasks. Yet the skills to write links are not widely learned. Good writers often are not trained in how to write good links. Good web writers often do not test the usability of the links they write.
In fact links can be nearly invisible to users if they are not designed well. See our article on other tips to make your lists easier to scan. One skill is to identify the words users scan for, and put them near the beginning of links that serve those user tasks.
Perhaps one way to think differently is to imagine how Yoda – the Star Wars character – might write. Yoda often puts specific information at the beginning of a phrase – as good links do. For instance these imaginary links place specific words first, and general words last, as Yoda might:
- Specific it is, a good link
- Quickly, users scan them
- First, key words must go
- Bulleted, they are easier to scan
This is just a whimsical way of remembering to think differently when writing links. Of course you have to write for humans. But perhaps this will help you remember: Users quickly scan the beginnings of links for specific words they recognize. So, write like Yoda might – change the order of your well-constructed sentence. Put specifics and keywords early in the link. Put general words last. Write so users notice links quickly. Contact us to understand how to get started. Visit the Customer Carewords site for how to identify the right words to use in key links.
Quote of the month
“Life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
