As webmasters and editors for international LGBTQ+ organisations, you play a crucial role in communicating vital information and creating inclusive online spaces. A key aspect of this is ensuring your website is user-friendly and optimised for search engines. One often overlooked element that can significantly impact both user experience (UX) and search engine optimisation (SEO) is the way you create text links. Moving beyond linking single words like ‘here’ to more descriptive phrases can make a world of difference. This article will delve into why this is particularly important for LGBTQ+ organisations, offering clear, actionable advice to improve your websites using WordPress.
The importance of descriptive text links
Descriptive text links are not just a detail; they’re an essential component of web accessibility and SEO. For LGBTQ+ organisations and NGOs, whose missions often involve reaching wide and diverse audiences, making your website more accessible and easier to find can significantly enhance your impact. Here’s how you can achieve this:
- Improve accessibility and UX
Users with disabilities, including those using screen readers, benefit immensely from descriptive links. Instead of vague directives like ‘click here’, use phrases that tell the user exactly where the link will take them. This clarity enhances the user experience for everyone, not just those with disabilities. - Boost your SEO
Search engines use the anchor text of links to understand the content of the linked page. By using descriptive phrases, you provide clear signals about the content, helping improve your site’s search engine rankings for those terms. - Enhance user engagement
Descriptive links set clear expectations, reducing frustration and bounce rates. Users are more likely to stay and engage with your content if they find it easy to navigate and understand.
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Steps to implement descriptive text links in WordPress
Implementing descriptive text links on your WordPress site is straightforward. Follow these steps to ensure your links are optimised for both users and search engines:
- Identify key phrases
Use phrases that accurately describe the linked content. For example, instead of ‘click here for more information’, use ‘learn more about our LGBTQ+ advocacy programs’. - Use WordPress’ link options
When adding a link in WordPress, highlight the phrase that best describes your linked content. Use the link tool in the editor to insert your URL. WordPress automatically uses your selected text as the anchor. - Review and revise
Go through your existing content to identify opportunities to update links. This can be a gradual process, focusing on high-traffic pages first. - Train your team
Ensure everyone contributing to your website understands the importance of descriptive links and how to create them in WordPress.
Wrapping up
By adopting descriptive text links, your organisation can significantly improve both the user experience and SEO of your website. This simple change can make your site more accessible, easier to navigate, and more visible in search engine results — empowering you to reach and support a broader segment of the LGBTQ+ community. We encourage you to review your website’s links and start implementing more descriptive phrases today. Together, we can create more inclusive, accessible, and effective online spaces.