When there is so much info out there, how come it is still so popular to read articles like this one? Why is (and probably others) still getting a copy from well-documented writers who are riddled with grammar and error errors? Because article writing, at its best, communicates. It tells a story, and when done well, gives the reader a sense of what the author believes in.
An Important Part of a Website’s User Experience
Let’s take an article like this one for instance: “click here to find out more about the Google Ion”. The hyperlink text is bold, the article text is smaller, and the author’s name comes first – unlike most other formats (like lists, which usually use the word document along with a colon and list items such as click here). In this case, the hyperlink text acts as an information foraging tool (a directed search); the article text serves the purpose of informing the reader, whereas the bold colon lets the reader know what the article is about. It also tells the reader that this is an informative article and further directs him/her to additional material (or a website). When done well, information foraging works – even when done by a poorly written script or ill-constructed hyperlink.
That brings up another point: articles with good information foraging also have better click through rates (CTR), because they get noticed. If a user searching for an item he needs wants to buy has several alternatives (like this one), he/she will be more likely to make a purchase if she/he finds something useful; conversely, if the user doesn’t find what he/she wants immediately, or gets lost along the way, she/he will likely just abandon the search and move on. This makes it important that the hyperlink text in the anchor text of these links (also called hyperlinks) be interesting, clear and descriptive. These should also have a reasonable amount of keyword saturation. Good websites often use phrases like click here, which give the viewer an easy idea that the page being linked to is relevant to the click-able phrase.