Links with generic text like "click here" or "read more" tell search engines nothing about the destination page. Google uses anchor text to understand what the linked page is about—and you're wasting that signal.

Accessibility overlap: "Click here" links fail for both SEO and accessibility. Screen reader users navigating by links hear "click here, click here, click here" with no context. For linked images, alt text functions as anchor text—so empty alt on image links means zero anchor text signal.

What's the Problem?

When you write <a href="/pricing">click here</a> instead of <a href="/pricing">view our pricing plans</a>, you're missing two opportunities:

1. Search Engine Context

Anchor text is one of the signals Google uses to understand what a page is about. When multiple sites link to your page with descriptive text like "Vue.js documentation," Google associates those terms with your page. Internal links work the same way—they help Google understand the relationship between your pages.

2. Accessibility

Screen reader users often navigate by jumping between links. Hearing "click here, click here, click here" tells them nothing. They need context without reading surrounding text.

Lighthouse flags these generic phrases as non-descriptive:

  • "click here" / "click this"
  • "here" / "this"
  • "read more" / "learn more" / "more"
  • "go" / "start"
  • "more info" / "more information"
  • "see more" / "information"

The audit also detects equivalents in Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese, Korean, Swedish, German, Tamil, and Persian.

How to Identify This Issue

Chrome DevTools

  1. Open DevTools (F12) → Elements tab
  2. Press Ctrl+F (or Cmd+F on Mac) to search
  3. Search for common offenders: >click here<, >read more<, >here<
  4. Review each match and its destination

Lighthouse

Run a Lighthouse SEO audit. Look for "Links do not have descriptive text" in the results. The audit lists each failing link with its destination URL and current text.

The Fix

1. Describe the Destination

Replace generic text with words that describe where the link goes.

<!-- Before -->
<p>To see our products, <a href="/products">click here</a>.</p>

<!-- After -->
<p>Browse our <a href="/products">complete product catalog</a>.</p>

<!-- Before -->
<a href="/docs/getting-started">Learn more</a>

<!-- After -->
<a href="/docs/getting-started">Get started with our API</a>

The destination should be obvious from the link text alone.

2. Include Keywords Naturally

Use anchor text that includes relevant keywords for the destination page—but keep it natural.

<!-- Before -->
<p>For help with deployment, <a href="/docs/deploy">click here</a>.</p>

<!-- After -->
<p>Our <a href="/docs/deploy">deployment documentation</a> covers all hosting options.</p>

Don't stuff keywords. "Click here for cheap flights booking discount airline tickets" is worse than "click here."

3. Avoid Redundant Phrases

Don't repeat "link" or "click" in anchor text—users know it's clickable.

<!-- Bad -->
<a href="/about">Click this link to learn about us</a>

<!-- Good -->
<a href="/about">About our company</a>

4. Keep Context in Mind

Sometimes surrounding text provides context. That's fine for humans, but search engines evaluate links independently.

<!-- Seems okay, but fails the audit -->
<p>Check out our new features. <a href="/features">Read more</a></p>

<!-- Better: context is in the link itself -->
<p>Check out our <a href="/features">new feature announcements</a>.</p>

5. Handle Repeated Links

When linking to the same destination multiple times, vary the text slightly while keeping it descriptive.

<!-- First mention -->
<a href="/pricing">pricing plans</a>

<!-- Later in the page -->
<a href="/pricing">compare our plans</a>

Framework-Specific Solutions

Next.js — Use the Link component with descriptive child text. If you're using a design system with generic button text, override it at the component level or create a wrapper that enforces descriptive text.
Nuxt — Same principle with NuxtLink. If you have a component library with "Read more" buttons, consider a linting rule or component prop that requires descriptive text.

Verify the Fix

  1. Run Lighthouse SEO audit again
  2. Confirm "Links have descriptive text" shows as passing
  3. Manually spot-check key pages for remaining generic links
  4. Test with a screen reader (VoiceOver on Mac, NVDA on Windows) to verify links make sense in isolation

Common Mistakes

  • Over-optimizing anchor text — "Best cheap affordable budget software solution" reads like spam. Keep it natural: "our pricing" or "project management software."
  • Using image-only links without alt text — An image link with no alt text has no anchor text at all. Add descriptive alt text: <a href="/"><img src="logo.png" alt="Company Name homepage"></a>
  • Hiding descriptive text — Don't hide descriptive text with CSS to "trick" the audit. Search engines can detect this. Make it visible for everyone.
  • Ignoring nofollow links — Lighthouse skips rel="nofollow" links since they don't pass SEO value anyway. But they still matter for accessibility—fix them too.

Related Issues

Link text issues often appear alongside:

  • Crawlable Anchors — Links need both valid hrefs and descriptive text
  • Link Name — Both SEO and accessibility require descriptive links
  • Image Alt — Image links get their text from alt attributes

Test Your Entire Site

Generic link text is often a pattern—if one "click here" slipped through, there are probably more. Unlighthouse scans your entire site and identifies every page with non-descriptive link text, so you can fix them systematically.

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