When to Open Links in New Windows

I’m hoping to make the Web Usability Tip a weekly feature. Each week, I’ll shed insight on a different topic related Web Usability.

This week, I’ll be discussing links and links opening in new windows.

Internal Links

Everyone has a different take on links and where they should open. I think we can all agree that most internal links (to different parts of your own website) should be linked to without opening in a new window. Browsers to this automatically when the target attribute of the a (link) tag isn’t specified. Here’s the HTML code example:

<a href=”index.html”>My Homepage</a>

If you wanted to make your life difficult, you could set your target to _self to definitely make sure you link goes to the same window:

<a href=”index.html” target=”_self”>My Homepage</a>

External Links

Let’s go over the HTML basics really quickly. You can get a link to open in a new window by setting the target attribute of the a tag to _blank. Example:

<a href=”http://www.google.com” target=”_blank”></a>

This where some opinions start to differ. Some people believe that opening external links (for example, to google.com) in the same window is bad, and some people think it’s good. Let’s go over the pros and cons.

Arguments for opening an external link in a new window

• Reserves Your Space - Your website reserves its spot on the user’s taskbar (or tab)
• Keeps Your Visitor - You don’t lose a visitor who would have potentially stayed longer on your website
• Orients The User - The user becomes aware that it is an external link (not everyone checks the status bar for the URL)
• Guides The User - Less web-savvy users need to be guided with this technique, not everyone is as savvy as you or I

Arguments against opening an external link in a new window

• They Can Always Come Back - The BACK button is the most used button on the browser, the user is never unable to come back to your site
• Annoying - Savvy users/Power users already have a great handle on tab/window manipulation without having you interfere
• Can Disorient New Users - Less web-savvy users may become disoriented or thing your link is an annoying pop-up

My Recommendation

Look at your users, are your users web-savvy? or less web-savvy? Are you users more likely to come from a Search Engine? or through a forum? This is different for every website, use your judgement.

If your article consists mainly as a link, why not make it target the same window to avoid possible frustration? As an example, if you’re writing a blog post that consists of: “Wow, Google/Adsense just did something and made my day, they just posted it on their blog” where the underlined part consists of a link, why not just link directly to the blog? It’s unlikely that if the article opened in a new window, they would come back and continue reading the Privacy Policy at the bottom of your page…

Related Posts

• Hundredth Post - Looking Back On The Blog
• 10 Tips To Make Your Website’s Layout More Usable
• Using “Click Here” as Link Text - The Debate