The Link Text Problem Most Australian Business Websites Share
If your website has buttons or links that say things like 'click here', 'read more', or 'learn more', you are not alone — but you are making a mistake that affects both your users and your search rankings. Vague link text is one of the most common web design oversights for Australian small business websites, and it is surprisingly easy to fix.
Why Link Text Actually Matters
Link text — the words that are clickable and underlined on your website — does two important jobs. First, it tells visitors exactly where they will go when they click. Second, it gives search engines context about the page being linked to. When your link text is vague, both of these jobs fail.
For users relying on screen readers — software used by people with visual impairments — link text is especially critical. Screen readers often read out a list of all links on a page, stripped of surrounding context. A list of 'click here, click here, click here' tells them absolutely nothing useful. This affects a significant portion of Australians, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimating over 4 million Australians live with some form of disability.
What Counts as Poor Link Text?
- 'Click here' — gives no information about the destination
- 'Read more' — especially problematic when repeated multiple times on the same page
- 'Learn more' — too generic to be meaningful out of context
- 'Here' — often used in sentences like 'Download our brochure here'
- Raw URLs — such as 'https://yourwebsite.com.au/services' pasted as visible text
What Good Link Text Looks Like
Descriptive link text tells the user exactly what they will get when they click. It should make sense on its own, without needing to read the surrounding sentence. Here are some practical examples:
- Instead of 'Click here to contact us' — use 'Contact our team'
- Instead of 'Read more about our services' — use 'View our cleaning services'
- Instead of 'Download here' — use 'Download our free quote template'
- Instead of 'Learn more' on a blog post — use 'Read: How to choose the right tradie for your renovation'
The SEO Bonus of Better Link Text
Search engines like Google use link text — called 'anchor text' in SEO — to understand what a linked page is about. When you use descriptive anchor text throughout your website, you are giving Google clearer signals about your content. This supports your internal linking strategy and can improve how your pages rank for relevant searches across Australia.
For example, if you run a plumbing business in Brisbane and link to your services page using the words 'Brisbane plumbing services', that is far more useful to Google than a link that simply says 'click here'.
How to Audit Your Own Website Link Text
You do not need to be a developer to check your link text. Simply read through your website pages and highlight every link. Ask yourself: if I read this link text on its own, with no surrounding sentence, does it tell me where I am going? If the answer is no, it needs to be rewritten.
Free tools like the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool (available at wave.webaim.org) will automatically flag empty or non-descriptive links on any page you enter. It is a quick, free check that can reveal dozens of easy wins on your Australian business website.
A Simple Rule to Follow
Before publishing any page or blog post, run through this quick check for every link:
- Does the link text describe the destination clearly?
- Is it unique — not repeated on the same page with a different destination?
- Does it make sense if read aloud without context?
- Is it concise — ideally between 2 and 6 words?
If you can tick all four boxes, your link text is doing its job for both accessibility and SEO.
Small Change, Big Impact
Improving your website link text is a small change that has a real impact — on user experience, accessibility compliance, and search engine performance. It costs nothing to implement and takes less than an hour to audit a typical small business website. If you would like help reviewing your website for accessibility and usability issues, explore our website design for small business services to see how we can help your Australian business put its best foot forward online.