Hyperlinks are essential when you write for websites. (Which is, hopefully, obvious by this point.) Effective links don’t just help your readers navigate through information chunks. They also improve your writing’s credibility, objectivity and scannability.
Hyperlinks show that you’ve done your research. It’s one thing to reference a study, for example. It’s another to provide readers with a link to read that study themselves. Links also highlight key phrases, serving the same function as bolding and italics.
But despite the importance of links, people often abuse, ignore or underutilize them. Here’s how you can avoid that fate:
Embed links
Hyperlinks can be broadly categorized as embedded and supplemental. Each has its advantages and disadvantages.
Embedded hyperlinks appear within the text and redirect your readers to relevant information. They’re simple, effective and useful.
But be careful. Embedded hyperlinks can take visitors away from your site (possibly forever). You don’t want to pepper your copy with outbound links, so use them judiciously. Excessive hyperlinking can also make your page look like a directory—and we all know how enjoyable it is reading the Yellow Pages.
Supplement with links
Supplemental links appear outside your copy, typically at the bottom of a page or in a sidebar. (A sidebar usually makes most sense because many users won’t reach the bottom of the page.)
These links aren’t immediately apparent to readers scanning your copy. Nor are they as clearly connected with your main content. They are, however, useful for directing people to information related to your main content.
So if you have background information, or relevant yet tangential materials, consider linking to them from a supplemental list.
Be brief, descriptive and meaningful
Ever witness “click here” syndrome? Pages loaded with links reading “click here,” “read this,” “learn more” or “buy now”? To people who scan, those links are meaningless. Click what? Read what? Learn what? Buy what?
To be effective, your links must be brief, descriptive and meaningful. They should provide useful information—even when read out of context. Here are some important things to consider:
- Don’t use non-descriptive phrases—such as “click here” or “follow this link.” They don’t aid scanning, and they add nothing to your message.
- Use links to guide readers through your documents to the most relevant information.
- Link to background or explanatory information—such as relevant articles and journal publications.
- Keep your audience in mind and don’t offer links to information with which they should already be familiar.
- Summarize where possible and link to full-length treatments elsewhere. (This will also help you write concise.)
- Explain what a link offers.
- State conclusions and link to supporting details.
- Itemize categories and link to lists.
When you write and design them properly, your content’s links can be some of the most powerful navigational elements within your website. You’ll have more control over each visitor’s experience. And you’ll help to ensure that what you write for the web actually gets read.