Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [154]
Figure 13-6: Webaim.org uses anchor text (link text) as an effective means of contextual navigation.
Nick Usborne (Net Words, McGraw-Hill, 2002) defined what I consider to be one of the best applications of anchor text in a website, the “action-benefit interaction.” The text link should not only describe the information that will be found when clicking the link but also offer a promise or a benefit to the user.
From a search engine rankings standpoint, employing user benefits in your text, and especially your text link, is beneficial. Searchers tend to look for solutions to their problems. When a site is focused on the needs of the users in the language of their need, it increases not only the chances for your site to rank for those terms but also your site’s ability to connect with those users and increase your chance to convert them to buyers.
The next time you go to write “click here” in the text of your page, stop and ask yourself, why should the user click this link? Does it properly describe the benefit to the user? Think through your strategy, and rewrite that link. This will provide a contextual relevance to the page within your own website, as well as relevance to the visitor, who will realize that more information about that particular word or topic can be accessed simply by clicking the link.
From an accessibility standpoint, users who list links to “hear” the possible information accessed from the page will hear a clear, relevant list of topics, rather than multiple links that read the same and with no distinguishing content. This will improve the user experience all around, as well as make a small impact in the search engines by creating additional relevance among your pages.
Review and Hands-On
Review your website using the Google Webmaster Guidelines and the WCAG checkpoints with both search engines and assistive technology in mind. I tend to recommend the 1.0 guidelines in addition to the 2.0 revision, because the 1.0 guidelines are a bit easier to read and understand for nonprogrammers.
Google’s Webmaster Guidelines:www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=35769
Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG): WCAG 1.0 Checklist:www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html
Checklist for comparing WCAG 1.0 to WCAG 2.0:www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-WCAG20-20060427/appendixD.html
Full WCAG 2.0 with explanations and resources:www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-WCAG20-20060427/guidelines.html
Explore the accessibility options available through browsers such as Internet Explorer, Opera, Chrome, or Firefox. Find the commands to increase and decrease text size. Also, within the operating system of your computer, find the accessibility options and see how they work.
The typical tools you may find are contrast settings, zoom or screen magnification settings, text-to-speech options, and mouse and keyboard adjustments. Explore these options and see how they can make browsing the Internet easier for different people with different needs. You may, in fact, find a few that will make your life a bit easier as well.
Microsoft offers an extensive learning center on accessibility and how Microsoft technology enables users to take advantage of a full range of accessible options: www.microsoft.com/enable/. Take time to review the information and explore the products and demos available on the website.
Download a color blindness simulator, or use an online simulator to test your site. Get a sense of the differences that people see when viewing your content.
Find any potential issues by performing tasks on your website through the simulator. Ensure that your calls to action and graphics are able to still be read and understood. Resources for this are located here:
www.w3.org/TR/UNDERSTANDING-WCAG20/visual-audio-contrast-without-color.html
Take the Ishihara test for color blindness to get a sense of the vision differences. Many tests are available online.
Go to Webaim.org