Different Ways to Link to Content On Your Utility Website
You might not give a lot of thought to different link types and their locations for your utility website, but luckily our trusted web experts do. While some may think that a link is a link, our team thinks not only of what type of link to use but also where it is best positioned to give your sites visitors a memorable online experience. From text hyperlinks, buttons, call to action, navigation tiles and breadcrumbs, visitors to your utility websites will find a variety of links designed to give them the best experience.
Text Hyperlinks
When one thinks of links, the text hyperlink is probably the one that most comes to mind. Simply put, its text on a page that when clicked will bring you to another page (internal or external) or document but they can serve different functions and we will make sure that they adhere to our best practices and our STAR Standard to give your visitors the best experience possible. Your visitors will see these throughout the site used to direct them to an internal or external page, open a document, connect to telephone numbers with click to call, open an email, and get to a specific section of a page with anchors.
As part of our best practices, going to an external website or opening a document will open a new tab and documents will be identified as a document by having the extension at the end of link ((PDF) for example).
In our commitment to accessibility, as part of our STAR Standard, the links are text not just URLs or email addresses for ease of use for screen readers. We also make sure that the color of the link makes it easily identifiable as a link.
Buttons
Pay Bill and User Portal login buttons are another type of link that visitors are likely to see if your utility website has those features. They are larger buttons that commonly appear in headers and footers. Being able to pay bills online or have access to an account are beneficial to you and your visitors so having distinctive buttons in prominent locations will make it easy for your visitors to access.
Navigation tiles
Visitors will normally find navigation tiles on landing pages, but they can really be found on any internal page. The tiles are larger elements that have a visual representation of the page it directs you to as well the page title. Apart from looking good from a design perspective they are also helpful for visitors with a mobility or visual impairment. The larger button and links are easier to see and navigate to; again honoring our commitment to accessibility as part of our STAR Standard.
Action/Call to action buttons
On the home page, call to action buttons are prominent buttons/links to important or frequently sought-after pages. These are placed “above the fold” so that they are visible on most visitors’ screens without having to scroll down.
Again, we try to anticipate your visitors needs and put the most sought-after pages front and center for them.
Breadcrumbs
The last type of link visitors will see on one of our utility websites are breadcrumbs. As we have mentioned in a previous post, Navigating Utility Websites, breadcrumbs allow your visitors to see where they are on a website and allows them to navigate to other pages within the hierarchy/structure of the website.
This is all dependent having the hierarchy set up well, but that is something that our trusted web experts will do.
Links are elements of a website that can easily be taken for granted or even overlooked somewhat, but during the design of your utility website our team will ensure that you have the correct links in the best places to ensure your visitors a memorable experience.
