Improve Your Content with Clear Headings and Links

The web is a fast-paced world. Grab the attention of the visitors to your site by having content that is easy to scan. The simplest way to do this is by having clear headings and links:

Descriptive headings makes your content easy to scan

• Headings that are descriptive, unique* (aren’t repeated over and over) and jargon-free allow your visitor to quickly scan down the page and jump to the section they want to read. Also, if you are using proper <h2> and <h3> tags (which you should be) the text is likely to be larger and bolded. Great for when your pages are being read by someone using their mobile phone (easier to see on the small screen).

*You can use repeated headings across product pages so that you have consistency. But always ensure you have a unique <h1> per page.

• Keywords in headings are beneficial for SEO – but keep in mind where else your headings may end up. For instance, inserting the name of your company (or one of your keyword phrases) into every news page may look OK when you are on the page itself – but would seem ridiculous if you see a list or index of the news pages.

• Try not to start headings (especially for news items, blog posts or media releases) with ‘A’ or ‘The’ for the simple reason that if you end up with an alphabetical list of the pages – it’s harder to scan down the list. There has also been research done that suggests that people only read the first two or three words in each heading as they scan down the page. So make those first two of three words count!

Well written headings are easy to share

• If you are on Twitter you’ll know that a great heading is easier to tweet. If that’s how you want your message shared, make the heading around 100 characters (allows space for a shortened URL and RT message).

Meaningful links are important too

• Never just use ‘click here’ as the text for links! Have meaningful links so that a visitor knows exactly what they are in for when they visit the link.

So instead of:

A variety of media releases are available on this site. Click here.

Use:

You can access a variety of media releases on this site.

Or even:

Click here to access a variety of media releases.

PLUS: if you have a visitor accessing your site using a screen reader (assistive technology for people with a vision impairment), it makes it easier for them to use your site. If you use ‘click here’ for all your links, and they are using link text to navigate your site – all they will hear is ‘click here’, ‘click here’, ‘click here’, ‘click here’, ‘click here’. How frustrating!

• Use your SEO keywords in links but make sure the links are still readable.

• It sounds obvious, but ensure you have a system in place where you check that your links still work! Would you buy a product or hire someone if their site was full of broken links? It doesn’t give a great first impression, does it?

Finally, how many of you read this article by first scanning the headings? I hope they were descriptive enough for you!