Why A New Window Is Akin To A Barrier To (Re) Entry
We’re thinking about redesigning our website at the moment and one of the development team sent a straw poll round the office asking what people thought about links opening in new windows. To say that it unleashed a bit of a storm would probably be putting it mildly.
Whilst many people (myself included) felt that links should generally open in the same window, there were a fair amount of people saying that, especially in the case of links to external sites, they should open in a new browser window.
[The] Reason why is “user retention”. In blog posts there are normally quite a few external links which if clicked and opened in the same window would mean the reader will get distracted and maybe never comes back to our site.
Now I greatly respect the views of the person who wrote this (I ought to, he knows more about web design than I ever will) but I have to disagree and wanted to explain why. I also thought that a blog post might be a better way of exploring different opinions than an internal round-robin, as I’d be very interested in the views of our readers as well.
The back button is, undoubtedly, one of the most used and best understood forms of navigation on the web. The search engines realise this which is why they track and, to varying degrees, utilise this data when determining how useful a site is (whether it’s been reached from the organic listings or a paid ad.) It’s what people are used to, as evidenced by the fact that huge sites, such as the BBC, which in many ways shape user behaviour, are not afraid to link to external content in the same window.
The idea that opening external links in a new window will result in people returning to your site more than if you allow their journey to continue in the same window is, I think, based on a misconception; if your content is good enough, people will generally come back to it; if it’s not, you can throw open as many new windows as you want at them but they simply won’t return.
Of course this doesn’t even touch on the issues relating to accessibility and usability. Jakob Nielsen (who I have to say I don’t always agree with) argues:
Users often don’t notice that a new window has opened, especially if they are using a small monitor where the windows are maximized to fill up the screen. So a user who tries to return to the origin will be confused by a grayed out Back button.
The RNIB also tends to agree with Nielsen:
only launch a new browser window from a link if it is really necessary. For instance, if the link destination will take users out of a secure website, then it may perfectly valid to open a new window so that users won’t be put to the trouble of logging in again.
Warn users about any links that would open new windows
Of course the RNIB has been found to be lacking in the accessibility department itself, but still, do as I say, not as I do.
At the end of the day of course, there is no right or wrong answer; a site should always be designed with the user in mind, and if that typical user would expect links to open in a new window, then that’s the way to go. But if you’re doing it to hold on to traffic, you may find you end up losing more in the end.
Note: the results of the office poll (which was far from scientific) was:
- Opening links in the same window: 73%
- Opening links in an external window: 27%
Please feel free to drop your own opinion on this amazingly heated debate in the comments below.
Header image: ercwttmn on Flickr
As you’ve mentioned James, the BBC aren’t afraid to open in the same window, and nor are Google. One worry I do have about opening in the same window is that the new window can sometimes get closed by ‘mistake’ by users who have come to expect external links to open in a new window. I do this myself sometimes.
Ultimately, from an affiliate’s point of view, the best thing to do is A/B testing to measure changes in income, but also other metrics such as pageviews and return visitors which may infuence the longer term profitibility of a site.
From a publisher’s POV, I agree with the customer retention and open links in a new window.
From a reader’s POV, a common bugbear of mine is when I visit a new site such as a blog and there is an external link of interest but I also want to explore this new blog. However, the link opens in the same window. It irritates me because I want to explore the blog but now I’ve got to wait for this new site to load, then press back, then open it in a new window manually so I can read both.
I do tend to have a lot of tabs open and I’m probably impatient, but I do think external links should be in a new window.
If I could also add…I agree with Dave that I close windows expecting them to be a separate entity. And keeping with the separate entity theme, external links are separate to your site and therefore should be opened separately. There is that old T&C you see on sites saying “we do not endorse external links, not responsible for content etc”. But if you open them in the same window, some less savvy surfers might get confused and possibly see it as an extension of your site.
Thanks for commenting guys.
Interesting points all, but I’d direct you back to Jakob & the RNIB who both say that if you are going to open them in a new window, you should sign-post it, which very few sites do.
I know that there are lots of opinions on this, but it does seem to be the case that your ‘average user’ doesn’t expect a new window.
Dave’s point about testing is a very good one.
One thing that might make me relatively unpopular in many circles is that I would ignore any preference of an individual or organisation in favour of what the target audience actually prefers/expects (the RNIB would still have the internet as black text on a white page if they had their way).
For me, the automatic “Open in new tab” concept has become an integral part of using the internet for me. So when I was reading one of the more link heavy articles on here, I started getting pretty hacked off having to navigate back and forth all the time.
One thing mentioned was that if a site links to an external site, it should be opened in a separate window. Advertising almost always does this. In that respect, there is no “universal rule” that goes for or against new windows/tabs.
So I tried to look for links to external sites that weren’t based on advertising. I looked at what are supposed to be the most popular sites in the UK: Yahoo!, eBay, MSN, FOX, BBC, Facebook and MySpace. I struggled to find any non-advert based links on Fox, eBay and Yahoo! although BBC, MSN and Facebook both opened external links over their own content. MySpace was the only exception.
So from this limited info gathering I get the idea that new windows are okay for advertsing, but that’s about it! As for Blogs, I looked at what I was led to believe are the top 5 (i haven’t got a clue cos I generally don’t look at blogs. Oops!)
Gizmodo - same window
TMZ - new window
Endgadget - same window
LifeHacker - same window
Huffington - new window
Not sure I’d agree there’s a rule of thumb exactly with what the user can expect but I can see that there’s a preference, and it’s going against me
I always - as in 100% of the time - open things in new tabs by myself, but I’m not part of the hoards of people still using IE6 (yep, check out those stats). Additionally, I like it how opening a new tab by yourself means that you stay on the original page and then choose to click over to the new tab. I don’t really like being taken to the new tab or window immediately. Don’t ask me why; I’m just odd. Even if I know that the link will open another window, I do the right-click-open-new.
How many other people do this? It kind of makes my opinion on whether the links should automatically bring up a new window meaningless, since mine always do, on my own terms. This is what you get when you ask a bunch of non-average users what you should do for average users
If you’re using a browser that doesn’t support tabs, new windows are going to get really old really quickly. Remember what happens when you fill up the real estate at the bottom of the screen? Incredibly annoying. In this light, I’d vote for Same Window, even though I’d still open it separately.
I’m not a big fan of Jakob, but you have to love this quote:
Opening up new browser windows is like a vacuum cleaner sales person who starts a visit by emptying an ash tray on the customer’s carpet.
I open all new links in a new tab myself now, whether that is the intention of the site or not.
I like to refer back and forth between pages of content and also it’s because I don’t trust what the forthcoming page will deliver.
I can close a tab and re-treat back to the previous page but If I close a window I’ve got to re-open the browser and find my history.
It would be nice to have a predictable standard for this, however my rule of thumb is that if it is a different site then it should open in a different window. The signal that this has occurred should be that you are suddenly looking at a site that has totally different branding, colour scheme, layout etc. This point can be reinforced by making sure that the initial site was consistent on all of these points and therefore even a site with a similar layout etc will be noticeably different.
I do a lot of research and often find it annoying when there is something you need a reference for and it doesn’t open in a new window causing you to lose your place within the original page. Granted i know about the right click option but i don’t always remember.
Therefore, although i am hesitant to suggest this as it could be seen to further propagate the problem, user testing should be carried out as ultimately speaking it is about keeping your clients happy and they tend to be happy when they have loads of people doing stuff on their site.
I agree with the point about great content, however certain groups of people do things in certain ways and you need to make it easier for your actual users not everyone in general. Its a tight point and one I’m still not sure of yet, but at the moment I’m out for my clients
Saying this I have a client that has a little ‘open new window’ icon next to the link and it works well.
Opening links in a new window in an attempt to retain visitors is terribly out-dated thinking…
But opening links in a new window _without warning_ is the real problem - I’ve seen plenty of videos from usability tests where this has proved a problem to the participant.
Got to agree with most of the comments here. I’m also someone who would prefer external links to open in other windows, very similar Raymond & Jane’s comments, to the point where I will actively open links in a new tab myself if a site doesn’t do this automatically.
This to me is the biggest issue; I don’t think people (generally) are annoyed by links opening in a new window/tab any more. How many people have more than one tab/window open now? I have 3, but it can be up to 8 or 9 on a usual day.
My attitude as a consumer has changed where I want to be the one to make a decision on whether I leave a site or not. For me, opening in the same window has changed from ‘polite/best practice’ to ‘most annoying’. New tabs are no longer intrusive (to me).
When I first published my first ever site back in 2000 I added in a check box to offer users the choice of opening links in the same window, or a new window (with the default unchecked box meaning all links opened in the same window).
Now, I get really miffed if links open in a new window without telling me - I use tabbed browsing and open all links in a new tab (by hand) - but crucially all within the same window. I’m already drowing under far too many open windows from using far too many apps at once, I want to keep all my browsing in the same window thank you very much.
However I wholeheartedly agree that the moral of the story is to tell users what the links do - no annoying surprises for the user!
i definitely prefer links opening in a new window. with settings so that links open in tabs rather than new browser windows i find this the best way to manage what i have open.
i find that whilst the content from the initial site might be good, enough to go back again, it might not be as relevant as the journey that going to other sites can often lead to, for whatever it is that you are looking for at that particular moment. this means you could end up navigating people away from the site.
it used to be less manageable to have loads of windows opening on the taskbar, but tabs in browsers rectify that.
i’m one of those who tends to have the main focal site open, where i started out, and then builds up the picture with opened tabs to other sites, which themselves can be developed if necessary. new opened links can often have some useful information, but are also in some way tangential, so having them open in new windows gives them a sort of secondary feel to where you started off.
it really depends on the content of the site at the start though, and how much of a ‘parent’ type site it is; with something like google, it is a natural start point due to its nature, not an end in itself, so opening in the same window makes sense.
I hate new window openings. How bout open in new tab?
I agree with a lot of the comments above - I always open in new tabs (i am constantly using the shift button) and get frustrated with links opening in the same window, especially with blogs where links are spread throughout the article and you click on something before you’ve finished reading the article.
However it IS annoying if you don’t have tabs enabled.
Maybe we need a “target=_newtab” attribute for links? But in the meantime, would there be a way of detecting whether tabs are enabled and having separate behaviours? You could detect browser version (less than or equal to ie6 etc) but that doesn’t get around the fact that you can switch off tabs in ie7 and firefox…