April 12th, 2006 by James Omdahl
Search engine optimization coach and author Dan Thies has made a commitment to daily blogging. And that is a very good thing for you and me because Dan seems to be willing to provide some useful insight into the SEO world.
Dans first post talks about the Box of Dreams concept. Check it out, it could help you get some of those things done that you have been meaning to do for a long time.
Dans second post gets more into the nitty-gritty of search marketing and takes on something that is near and dear to all of us - improving conversion.
You know when you get that piece of advice that is both obvious and brilliant all at once? I would put this post in that category.
His advice? Make sure your links are blue and underlined. Thats right, the default setting for links.
But heres the thing - those of us who have Web designers, either in-house or outsourced, will usually get a Web page that is very pretty to look at and has the links stylized into some color to better blend into your site. Heck, check out this blog! Perfect example.
The problem is that people are trained to look at those blue links - eye tracking tests prove it. So when you make links blend, you are going to get fewer clicks through to other pages.
Now, this can be a good thing if you are trying to push your visitors in a single direction (i.e. your lead form, purchasing page, etc.), but if you want people to actually look around your site, you want them to be able to easily identify links.
So, my fair affiliates, it is time to fight against the artistic bourgeois. It is time to fight against the attractive over the functional. It is time to make your Web sites links BLUE AND UNDERLINED.
April 13th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
You know, Jakob Nielsen used to rail on and on about leaving your links blue and underlined. Now hes backed off of that after many usability studies have shown that its less about how they stand out than whether the links on your pages stand out.
What really matters is A.> is your link color/scheme readily apparent as something “different” than just body text and B.> does the link text look “clickable”.
The fact that blue and underlined does this doesnt necessarily mean that blue and underlined text is always the best way to accomplish the goal of getting people to click on the links.
Generally, its been shown that color is less of an indicator than the underline on links. People click on underlined black text at a nearly identical rate as they click on underlined blue text.
So, red and underlined will probably work well as well. So would green with a big black border.
The point is, something can be both attractive and functional.
April 14th, 2006 at 9:08 am
Great point Art Sense.
Thanks so much for the insight and keep the feedback coming!
April 17th, 2006 at 8:55 am
there are a many single articles about blue links vs non-blue links, but the big picture is what you seem to be missing here. you cant say “switch all links to purple” and voila, like magic your site becomes functional.
colour, placement, decoration (underline), relevance and word use are all key elements to enhance functionality. there is no silver bullet.
April 17th, 2006 at 10:45 am
Thanks for the feedback Artistic Bourgeois.
I agree that there is no silver bullet.
I really think it all comes back to the goal you have for the web site you are designing. Actually, let me rephrase that, it comes back to the goals of the people paying you to design a Web site.
If you are putting together a site for yourself, and the only goal is to show what a great Web designer you are – go crazy with your links, colors, flash, whatever - that is AOK.
If you are getting paid to design a site that converts, or gets people to surf around a site, you better design for that. You better not start changing the color of your links in order to make something pretty at the expense of navigation or conversion. Your artistic vision means nothing to your employers if people aren’t able to navigate the site.
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