Where You Think Links Should Open Could Be Influenced By Your Age

One of the regular conversations I have with Venture Platform clients is how to handle the default target for where links open: new tab or same tab. Prior to the mobile device age, a common practice would be to have links pointing to internal website pages open in the same tab while outbound links open in a new tab. If you’re a manager of a certain age, that’s likely what you internalized as best practice during the onset of your career. But it’s time for old dogs to learn new tricks.

Adaptistration People 064I recently published an article at ArtsHacker on this topic that spells out not only the option you should choose (spoiler: same tab) but the types of exceptions that warrant using a new tab as the link target.

From a purely anecdotal perspective, I can say that the bulk of clients under 35 tend to expect links to open in the same tab, regardless the target content. On the other side of that coin, the over 35 crowd tend to adopt the older standard.

Some outliers in this mix are SEO and old-school marketers. Regardless of age, both groups tend to push for the internal link = same tab, external link = new tab camp.

But the good news is of all the things you may have to unlearn and relearn, this one is comparatively easy; all it takes is knowing.

Should Links Open In Same Or New Windows/Tabs?

 

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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