[Webpub] Common examples of poor hyperlinking

[Lisa C. Mayer]

Common examples of poor hyperlinking
Posted: March 4th, 2009

visit to add/view comments:
http://webpub.mit.edu/2009/03/common-examples-of-poor-hyperlinking/


Our friends over at SitePoint.com have rounded up some humorously poor  
practices of embedding links into your content.  They’ve dubbed these  
outlaws as “The Rouge’s Gallery.” I whole-heartedly agree with their  
description of “The Telemarketer”

     The scourge of hypertext, the telemarketer link includes a  
hovering box displaying a thumbnail preview of the target web page.  
What possible use is there for a small blurry thumbnail of the link  
target that pops-up and obscures the surrounding text? And what about  
those double-underlined advertising links? Users should never have to  
experience those.

Here’s their take on best practices for hyperlinking text:

     Poor quality hypertext is a usability disaster causing annoyance,  
confusion, and anxiety. Users expect links, and that the links will be  
relevant and useful. A good hyperlink is relevant to the surrounding  
text and provides enough information for the user to make an informed  
decision about whether to leave the current page they’re on and follow.

     The linked text must have relevance, as it’s the first hint the  
user will receive as to the nature of the link. The test of good link  
text is whether it can stand alone on a page, outside of the hypertext  
of which it’s a part, and still make sense.

     Links must also be styled differently to the surrounding text.  
They can be another color than blue, as long as it’s different to the  
normal text, and that all the links in the page are the same color, so  
they’ll be clearly visible.

     A title attribute is optional, but should be used independently  
from providing a context because the tool tip only appears when using  
the mouse. If the link text is sufficient, it’s unnecessary anyway.



Lisa C. Mayer : web & database consultant at MIT- IS&T- DCAD
lmayer at mit.edu  |  617.452.4225  |  (gtalk & aim) lisacmayer
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