You’re Doing It Wrong: Hyperlinks

The best links are woven seamlessly into a sentence.

Transcript

1. You’re Doing It Wrong: Hyperlinks
2. Purpose Think of a hyperlink as the digital equivalent of a footnote.
3. Benefits 1. A hyperlink gives your readers additional context — if they want it.
4. Benefits 2. The more links there are to your website, the higher your site will rank in search engines.
5. Best Practices 1. Try not to hyperlink one word only. That makes the link cumbersome to click.
6. Best Practices 2. Instead, spread your link across several words, or even an entire phrase.
7. Best Practices 3. Hyperlink the words that best describe the content you’re linking to.
9. SEAMLESS A recent article, in the Chicago Tribune, compared Ledecky’s times to those of her male counterparts. CLUNKY A recent article, in the Chicago Tribune, compared Ledecky’s times to those of her male counterparts (http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-katie-ledecky-meets-mens- qualifying-standards-for-2016-olympic-trials-20140922-story.html). Example 1
10. SEAMLESS Follow Katie Ledecky on Instagram. CLUNKY Follow Katie Ledecky on Instagram: http://instagram.com/kledecky Example 2
11. SEAMLESS Katie Ledecky has 150,000 followers on Twitter. CLUNKY Katie Ledecky has 150,000 followers on Twitter. Example 3
12. SEAMLESS Katie Ledecky has won 20 gold medals: Five in the Olympics and 15 in the world championships. That haul is the most ever by a female swimmer. For details, check out her Wikipedia entry. CLUNKY Katie Ledecky has won 20 gold medals: Five in the Olympics and 15 in the world championships. That haul is the most ever by a female swimmer. For details, click here. Example 4
13. SEAMLESS Katie Ledecky is considered the greatest athlete in the world today. Want proof? Read this news article in the Washington Post, this analysis in SwimSwam, and this op-ed in Swimming World. CLUNKY Katie Ledecky is considered the greatest athlete in the world today. Want proof? Read this article, this one, and this one. Example 5
14. HOW TO WRITE THE ”SECONDARY RESEARCH” SEC- TION OF YOUR PRESENTATION BLURB
15. COMPLETE A journal article that appeared in Science Direct in 2020, which presents the results of a study about students’ use of laptops in the classroom. INCOMPLETE A scholarly article about laptop use. Example 1
16. COMPLETE A 2026 report from the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, which argues that government regulations drive costs up. INCOMPLETE A report from Cato about affordability. Example 2
17. COMPLETE An article in Slate, by opinion columnist Farhad Manjoo, which declares that American Giant makes the “greatest hoodies ever.” INCOMPLETE This Slate article, by Farhad Manjoo, about American Giant hoodies. Example 3