A text link completes an action by taking the visitor to different content—a web page, a form, a PDF, and so on.
Examples
This is a text link. This is the kind of link that appears in body copy or lists.
An emphasis link is used outside of your body content, similar to how you'd use a button.
Usage
Highlight the text to be linked in the WYSIWYG. Click the link icon 
in the WYSIWYG toolbar and enter in the url to link the content.
Best Practice
- Good links should be descriptive and describe what is being linked to.
- Linked materials should provide value to the reader.
- Easy-to-understand links will make the page more scannable.
- Cross-linking to internal content strengthens the overall search-optimized value of a website.
- You should indicate if the link opens a file by including the file type in parentheses after the link (e.g., DOC, PDF, XLS, etc.).
- According to Neilson Norman eye tracking research, people mostly look at the first two words of a link.
What to Avoid
- Don't use "click here" or "read more" as links, because they are vague and/or often duplicated on the page, making the context hard to grasp quickly and causing accessibility issues.
- Poor link labels hurt your search engine ranking.
Accessibility
Descriptive link text is more accessible for people who use screen readers to jump from link to link within a website.
The Folwell link design and coding addresses the following:
- The color maroon chosen for text links passes the AAA color contrast test on the white, off white, light gray and lighter gray backgrounds included with the theme.
- Underlines on links address usability—underlined content within the body of a web page is understood to be a link.
- Visual cues, such as mouseover effects and right-pointing arrows, help indicate when maroon text is a link.
- A visited state style displays once a link has been clicked.