Better Labels for Website Links: the 4 S's for Encouraging Clicks

Why do link labels matter so much?

Because of how people actually use pages. Eye-tracking research has shown for decades that users don’t read web pages linearly. They scan, hunting for information scent — words that signal “what you want is this way.” On most pages, links are the strongest scent carriers: they’re colored, underlined, and visually distinct. Users’ eyes jump from link to link.

That means your link labels are doing the work your body text wishes it was doing. A page full of paragraphs can be saved by good links; a page with vague links fails no matter how good the prose around them is.

Better Labels for Website Links: The 4 S’s for Encouraging Clicks

When you’re writing label text for links, remember the four S’s to improve the findability, discoverability, and accessibility of your content.

First, links should be Specific

A link’s primary purpose is to communicate what users will find on the other side of a click or tap. Vague or repetitive language fails that purpose.

❌ “Learn more” – popular but useless.
✅ “Learn about our service plans” – a little more information makes it better.

Second, links should be Sincere

A link is a promise. It must set accurate expectations and then fulfil them.

Example of a broken promise:
A user on a travel site found a tour she wanted to book. She saw a link labelled “More Info & Book”and clicked it. Instead of booking, she received a pop‑up with a contract form. She was annoyed.

✅ Better label: “Contact Us to Book” – transparent about the next step.

Third, links must be Substantial

Eye‑tracking research shows people pay attention to salient elements. Links styled differently from static text stand out. As a result, link labels need to stand alone – they must make sense without additional context (like taglines or descriptive text).

❌ Example from a university’s homepage: “Restoring vision and hope.”
What does that mean? Hope for what? Vision for the future?
That link actually led to an article about eye care for Syrian refugees.

✅ Better label: “Eye care program for Syrian refugees” – less clever, more straightforward.

Lastly, links should be Succinct

Get to the point as quickly as possible. This increases the likelihood that users will understand the link as they scan the page.

⚠️ Important: Concision is last on the list for a reason. It must be balanced with the other three priorities. There’s no maximum word count for links – they can be as long as needed to achieve specificity, sincerity, and substance. But no longer than that. Each word should support those goals.

Keep the 4 S’s in Mind

Next time you write a link label, ask yourself:

• Is it specific?

• Is it sincere (honest about what’s next)?

• Is it substantial (understandable alone)?

• Is it succinct (no extra words)?

Your users – and your conversion rates – will thank you.

What about buttons and CTAs?

Buttons follow the same logic with one addition: they complete the sentence “I want to…” from the user’s side. “Get my quote” works. “Submit” doesn’t — it’s the system’s verb, not the user’s. The strongest button labels pair an action with an outcome: “Book my audit call,” “Download the checklist.”

How do you fix a whole site quickly?

You don’t need a redesign. Run a link audit: list every link and button label on your ten most-visited pages, score each against the 4 S’s, and rewrite the failures. It’s an afternoon of writing work with a measurable payoff — link text changes are among the cheapest conversion improvements available, and among the easiest to test.

Words are the cheapest high-impact UX material you have. Our content writing service covers exactly this level of your product — labels, microcopy, and the pages they live on. Fix your copy →