Are Your Hyperlinks Clunky or Seamless?

Purpose Think of a hyperlink as the digital equivalent of a footnote.

Benefits 1. A hyperlink gives your readers additional context — if they want it.

Benefits 2. The more links there are to your website, the higher your site will rank in search engines.

Best Practices 1. Don’t hyperlink one word only. That makes the link cumbersome to click.

Best Practices 2. Instead, spread your link across several words, or even an entire phrase.

Best Practices 3. Hyperlink the words that best describe the content you’re linking to.

Examples Clunky vs. Seamless

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). 1/5

SEAMLESS Follow Katie Ledecky on Instagram. CLUNKY Follow Katie Ledecky on Instagram: http://instagram.com/kledecky 2/5

SEAMLESS Katie Ledecky has 150,000 followers on Twitter. CLUNKY Katie Ledecky has 150,000 followers on Twitter. 3/5

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. 4/5

SEAMLESS Katie Ledecky is considered the greatest athlete in the world today. Want proof? Read this news article from the Washington Post, this analysis from SwimSwam, and this op-ed from Swimming World. CLUNKY Katie Ledecky is considered the greatest athlete in the world today. Want proof? Read this article, this one, and this one. 5/5