Linking means that users will select and click on a hypertext link on a starting page (usually the homepage), which then causes a new page to load. Users continue toward their goal by finding and clicking on subsequent links. To ensure that links are effectively used, designers should use meaningful link labels (making sure that link names are consistent with their targets), provide consistent clickability cues (avoiding misleading cues), and designate when links have been clicked.
Whenever possible, designers should use text for links rather than graphics. Text links usually provide much better information about the target than do graphics.
Use Meaningful Link Labels
Guideline: Use link labels and concepts that are meaningful, understandable, and easily differentiated by users rather than designers.
Comments: To avoid user confusion, use link labels that clearly differentiate one link from another. Users should be able to look at each link and learn something about the link’s destination. Using terms like ‘Click Here’ can be counterproductive.
Clear labeling is especially important as users navigate down through the available links. The more decisions that users are required to make concerning links, the more opportunities they have to make a wrong decision.
Link to Related Content
Guideline: Provide links to other pages in the Web site with related content.
Comments: Users expect designers to know their Web sites well enough to provide a full list of options to related content.
Match Link Names with Their Destination Pages
Guideline: Make the link text consistent with the title or headings on the destination (i.e., target) page.
Comments: Closely matched links and destination targets help provide the necessary feedback to users that they have reached the intended page.
If users will have to click more than once to get to a specific target destination, avoid repeating the exact same link wording over and over because users can be confused if the links at each level are identical or even very similar. In one study, after users clicked on a link entitled ‘First Aid,’ the next page had three options. One of them was again titled ‘First Aid.’ The two ‘First Aid’ links went to different places. Users tended to click on another option on the second page because they thought that they had already reached ‘First Aid.’
Avoid Misleading Cues to Click
Guideline: Ensure that items that are not clickable do not have characteristics that suggest that they are clickable.
Comments: Symbols usually must be combined with at least one other cue that suggests clickability. In one study, users were observed to click on a major heading with some link characteristics, but the heading was not actually a link.
However, to some users bullets and arrows may suggest clickability, even when they contain no other clickability cues (underlining, blue coloration, etc.). This slows users as they debate whether the items are links.
Repeat Important Links
Guideline: Ensure that important content can be accessed from more than one link
Comments: Establishing more than one way to access the same information can help some users find what they need. When certain information is critical to the success of the Web site, provide more than one link to the information. Different users may try different ways to find information, depending on their own interpretations of a problem and the layout of a page. Some users find important links easily when they have a certain label, while others may recognize the link best with an alternative name.