Lessons In Linking

Blogger Sarah Hartley recently published her top tips on how journalists should be using links in their online stories.

Here’s a selection of her suggestions from the post Why Put Links In News Stories?:

Be Specific

“Links should be to the specific piece of information being mentioned.

“This sort of deep-linking makes it easy for the user who will come to trust you as the most authoritative source of information on a topic.”

Provide Registration Info

“Bear in mind that if you had to register for a site in order to see the information, the user will have to do the same so provide instructions.”

Keep Consistent

“Decide a consistent style for the display of links commonly grouped together at the bottom of the story or elsewhere on the page.”

In Body Text?

“The advantage is that users easily identify with the context of the link because the word, or words, are highlighted and underlined.

“The disadvantage to this approach is that users unaccustomed to online may find it a halting experience to click onto a new window part way through an article.”

Visit Hartley’s blog for the full post on linking.