Linking Best Practices

Why Links Matter

Links pass value and authority from one page to another. This is colloquially referred to as "link juice".

Through links, search engines analyze the popularity of a web page based on the number, trustworthiness, authority, and popularity of pages linking to them. Trustworthy sites tend to link to other trusted sites, while spammy sites receive very few links from trusted sources.

Best Practice for Internal Links

• Internal links first: The first 2 or 3 links on a page should be internal links. This way, we can have our link juice flowing internally before sending it out to third parties.

• Anchor texts (aka blue words in text): Use descriptive anchor texts so that the reader knows what to expect on the linked-to page. We DO NOT put links on "click here" text.

• Make links get clicked: Link to content that is relevant to the context. Internal linking requires a user-focused approach (which links add value).

Best Practice for External Links

• Quality over quantity: Only include external links when needed (but NEVER on the front page). We absolutely DO NOT link to sites that appear spammy because external links can be seen as a recommendation - do we feel confident recommending that source? If in doubt, then we rather don’t link out.

• Evergreen links: Only link to external pages with solid URLs. When linking out, we consider whether the page is likely to exist within a year from now. Linking to URLs with lots of parameters in them or linking to time-restricted pages is often not the best strategy, as we will quickly end up with broken links. We try to remove any parameters in the URL that are not necessary.

• Open in new tab: When users click on an external link and the external website opens in the same tab we appeared in, then the user is most likely lost. We like to stay in the user's mind, so we open the external site in a new tab, while our website can remain open for the user to return to.

• Lower priority to external links: External links should not appear first thing on our pages - the top spots are reserved for internal links. Our pages have in general more internal links than external ones. We DO NOT use CTAs for external links.

Best Practice for Jump Links

A jump link consists of 2 items on each page:

1) The jump link: the jump link placed on a word to point to another section on the page (often a list of words that functions as 'table of contents'):

• <a href="#codeword">Blue Words Appearing On Page</a>

• the 'codeword' needs to be replaced by a short word descriptive of the place the page jumps to

• the 'codeword' needs to be unique - no codewords can be used twice on the same page

• the '#' sign needs to be included in the link to denote that it is an internal link on the same page

2) The anchor element: the point where the page should jump to (often a headline within the page):

• <a name="codeword">

• the 'codeword' needs to be EXACTLY the same as used in the above link

• no '#' sign should be included in the anchor element

• for better user experience, place the anchor element a little higher above the point it is supposed to jump to because the top of the desired view often gets cut off

Best Practice for Sitewide Links

• Look natural: do not include links in sitewide elements that seem suspicious or that do not offer value (e.g., linking to one specific product in the top navigation)

• Less is more: keep the number of sitewide links user-friendly (e.g., 32 side-wide links might be overwhelming when trying to find something)

• Change around: certain sitewide links (e.g., links to newsworthy content such as "most sustainable company") could get changed once in a while to boost their visibility