Do More Than "Contact Us" and "Click Here"

(Why you should not just link on the "click here" and "contact us" link).

Introductory Contact Us Click Here paragraph:
How often do you see a hyperlink on the words "click here" or a link to a contact page that says "contact us"? For the typical website developer, it is nearly second nature to link information on a page to another page on the words "click here", and to link to the contact page for the law firm, the agency, or the business on the words "contact us". When you review your website before publication, be sure to watch out for those links. (Why you should not do the "click here" and "contact us" link).

The Business Reason: What Search Engine Spiders See

Those links are the keys that lead a search engine spider to the next page, and build their successful link grid, so to speak. If you Google "contact us" or "click here", CNN, Intel, Adobe, New York Times, and Seattle Times are sure to be near the top of the list. And if you query "contact us", Adobe takes first place, but MSN is not that far behind. We think Bill should hire us for search engine marketing consultations.

The point of the matter is this: if you are going to take the time to create a link, make it count. Don't link on the words "contact us", but rather, on some definite direction to what they might contact you about. And don't link "click here" to a page, rather, link it like this: For information about how Sigma One Group can help level your playing field, load your bases, and hit the home runs that matter, ask us about website development, online search engine marketing, marketing the dot com, and integrating your firm's online marketing and offline marketing.

The Socially Moral Reason:

The Internet provides the single most powerful communication channel ever known to humankind. It surpasses the introduction of the televison with its real time transaction abilities. Absent smell, it strives to hit every sensory perceptor, and that is the point of the social responsbility that ensues when a business, and in particular when a law firm or a court has a website. Voice to text enables transcription. Text to voice enables those who cannot see with the ability to hear and to learn, grow, develop, and contribute to their world and the world in which we all contribute - it gives the blind access to the Internet.

Links on a website are read just like the text on a website through a transcriber that converts text to voice. If a link simply says, "click here" with no other information surrounding it, the listener may become confused or loose their place on the website page. Very specific content and links enable people who cannot read the surround words with the ability to use the page, and as well, help those who can read better understand the communication.

Real Life Story

Jodi Golisek, the founder and president of Sigma One Group is a student of the law. As is the case with many people, she suffers the consequences of the heavy pollen seasons, which in her case trigger migrains. In prepapartion for an exam, as is probably the case with all students, she was pushing the midnight hours, with the pressures of work, the clock, and the hornbook all at hand. As you might expect, it triggered a migraine, which prevented her from being able to read the screen of her computer. She subscribed to a service that read the webpages for her, which allowed her to finish her work and her studies in time for the examination. It was at that moment that she fired off a note to W3C regarding handicap access standards for the Internet. We are pleased to present their response.

W3C Workshop for Internalizing Speech Synthesis Markup Language (SSML)