Hyperlinks

Use live hyperlinks to web and email addresses in content that will be read online. But be consistent and make sure the links are immediately clear to your site users.

Underlining is the most common practice and what most users will expect to see. It makes links stand out on screen and aligns with web accessibility principles. You can also use colour to show a hyperlink, but don’t use colour alone.

For a web address, consider whether you need the full URL as your link’s display text. If the URL is very long, displaying a short but precise description will be clearer and more accessible.

A hyperlink will often relate to a marketing call to action (CTA), such as ‘Sign up now to receive a 10% discount’ or ‘Download the annual report’. Avoid the ubiquitous ‘Click here’, which adds little value and will make no sense out of context. Also consider which part of the CTA you will link.

For an email address, it is usually best to display the address itself, rather than hiding the link beneath other text. This will clarify that the link opens up a blank email to that address rather than an information page.

While underlining is recommended for onscreen hyperlinks, it is generally best to avoid it when readers have no way of clicking on a link - such as when reading a print document. In that case, the underlining will only make the text more cluttered and less legible.

Unfortunately, underlining URLs remains MS Word’s default hyperlink style. Don’t accept the Word default. Look for clearer and more creative options to present web or email addresses, such as using colour or icons.

If you must include a long URL and it runs on to a second line of text, make sure it breaks at a sensible point. For example, don’t break it after a full stop as this might imply the end of the sentence. Never add a hyphen to show the break, as you might with body text, because URLs often include hyphens.