Should your website links open in a new tab?

Should your website links open in a new tab? For a small-business website, a useful starting point is to keep ordinary navigation in the same tab. Use a new tab for a clear reason, and tell the customer before they follow the link.

A visitor checking your services should be able to move between pages without collecting a row of unexpected tabs. This short check helps you spot confusing behaviour and decide which links need an edit.

Start with five links customers actually use

Choose a service link from your homepage, a contact link, a booking link, a link to an outside organisation and a document download. Write down where each one should take the visitor. Then open your website as a customer, rather than inside the editor.

Follow each link with an ordinary click or tap. Note whether it replaces the current page, opens a separate tab, starts a download or launches another application. Check the actual result: a label in the editor does not prove what a visitor will experience.

Keep routine journeys straightforward

For links between your own service, about and contact pages, ask whether a new tab helps the visitor do anything useful. If it does not, keeping the link in the same tab is a sensible default. Customers who want another tab can usually choose that through their browser.

W3C’s guidance on opening new windows and tabs recommends limiting this behaviour because it can disorient some users. It also gives an example where a separate window can help: opening detailed guidance while someone completes a form, so they do not lose their place or entered information. This is advisory guidance, not a rule that every external link must behave one particular way.

For your booking journey, test the whole route before making changes. Does the customer need to refer to information on the original page? Can they return easily? Do not change a payment or booking integration just because its behaviour differs from a normal text link; ask whoever maintains it to check the full journey.

Warn customers before a link opens another tab

If a new tab has a useful purpose, add a short warning to the link text. For example, “Read the appointment guide (opens in a new tab)” describes both the destination and what happens next.

W3C’s guidance on advance warnings explains that an unexpected new tab can confuse people and that the Back button in the new tab does not take them to the original page. Visible wording is a practical starting point. If you use an icon instead, ask your developer to ensure the warning is also available to assistive technology.

Do not add “opens in a new tab” to every link without checking it. A warning that describes the wrong behaviour creates a different problem.

Check the link setting, then test again

Your website editor may offer an “open in new tab” option when you edit a link. Change one ordinary link at a time, save the page and check the public result. If the control is missing or the behaviour remains wrong, give your website maintainer the page address, the link wording and the result you expected.

For anyone checking the HTML, MDN’s anchor-element reference describes the target attribute: _blank usually opens a new browsing context in a tab, while _self uses the current one. Browser settings can affect the result, so test rather than rely on the code alone.

Finish with a phone and keyboard check

• On a phone, follow the link and find your way back to the original page.
• With a keyboard, use Tab to reach the link and Enter to activate it. Check that the warning is visible before activation.
• Check that the destination is correct and any download is labelled clearly.
• Repeat the test after saving your change, including any booking steps you affected.

For a wider review, use our simple keyboard website check. Keep a short list of links you changed so the next person who edits the page understands the choice.

Need help making a website journey clearer? Contact Hobbit Web Design through our website and share the page address and the link you want to improve.