Have you ever taken the time to think about how important your links really are. If no one clicks on your links, no one buys your products or reads your salesletter or responds to your emails. Here are 7 ways to ensure that your links are as "clickable" as poss Links are a vitally important but often under-looked aspect of website optimization. Here are 7 rules for ensuring that you get more clicks on your links, no matter what you're writing. Rule 1 Don't write a text link that says "Click Here" only. Rather focus on a benefit they will receive when they click on the link. To discover how you can lose 20lbs in 90 days click here. Rule 2 Keep links blue and underlined. That’s what people have come to accept as links. If it doesn't look like a link, people won't recognize it or click on it. Your links need to be clearly and easily identifiable as such by someone scanning the page. Blue and underlined is the fastest way for site visitors to identify this as a link. Rule 3 Make Your Link Text Relevant and Descriptive Links stand out visually and click here tells people who are scanning your website nothing. A contextual, descriptive link serves two purposes - as a link and as a mini sub-headline that tells readers more about what your page offers. Even links embedded within the copy stand out from the copy around it. Make an action oriented sentence. For example, "Calculate Your Mortgage Costs" or write a descriptive link that leaves the reader in no doubt about what he'll find when they click on the link. Another benefit of creating links like this is that Google loves them as well. A descriptive, contextual link lets Google and other search engines know exactly what a page is all about. Descriptive internal linking within your own website also helps to contribute to the destination page achieving a higher ranking in the search engines. Rule 4 Create keyword optimized links whenever possible. If you want Google and other search engines to increase your page rank, the primary keyword or phrase for the destination page should be part of the link text. But don't get carried away and over-stuff or over-optimize your links to the point where it starts to sound like really bad grammar. Rule 5 All your links should look pretty much the same. If you're going for blue and underlined (and I highly recommend that you do), then make sure that all your links look the same. You may choose to bold some or to use a different font or size, but keep links looking similar as much as possible. Rule 6 Never disguise links as sub-headings A link should be clearly demarcated as such. There should be no confusion about whether it's a link or not. Rule 7 Only embed contextual links when it makes sense to do so. And only do it if it's to your advantage and will forward the aim of what you're trying to achieve on that particular page.
I like adding the following coding to my links.. (A) target="_blank" (B) rel=" nofollow" (especially affiliates) Great tips
Very good advice, and something I'm still trying to get right. This is something that people can't seem to agree on. I'm in favour of implementing this on my sites because if a link takes someone to another site I'd rather keep the reader on my site, but people who disagree with it will say there is always the back button, but when I experimented I've found I lose visitors once they leave my site.