Should Blog Links Open in a New Tab?

Keep ordinary blog links in the reader's current browsing context; choose a new context only when there is a concrete task worth preserving. Another website's address is not, by itself, that reason.

W3C's G200 technique recommends limiting links that open new windows or tabs because a context change can disorient people. It identifies completing a form as a situation where preserving the current page can help, and recommends advance notice when a link deliberately opens another context.

Leave Ordinary Reading Choices to the Reader

The default need is simple: follow the chosen link. W3C's H83 technique explains that omitting a link's target lets users decide whether to open another window. It also notes that user agents can override a requested new window. Do not promise that every browser will create a tab rather than a window.

Separate two editing questions: where should this link go? and what should happen to the current page? A useful destination can still be reached in the current context. Make the destination choice first; then look for a specific reason to change the opening behavior.

The following are invented teaching situations, with decisions completed for their stated conditions. They are not tests of a real site.

An Ordinary Source Citation

Situation: A balcony-gardening article cites a reference explaining plant spacing. The reader is reading, with no unfinished entry to protect.

Decision: Keep the link in the current context.

Proposed link wording: Plant spacing reference.

The destination supports a point in the article. Its location on another website does not turn this reading task into an exception. No new-window hint is needed for this decision. If a reader wants another context, leave that choice available rather than choosing it for everyone.

Navigation to the Next Article

Situation: Someone finishes a seed-starting guide and follows a related article about transplanting seedlings.

Decision: Keep the link in the current context.

Proposed link wording: Move seedlings into larger pots.

This is the next reading task. There is no unfinished work in the current page to preserve. Treat the related-article card and the same link inside a paragraph consistently unless their actual contexts differ. Organizing those destinations is a separate task; blog categories can help readers find a collection of relevant articles.

Help Beside an Unfinished Form

Situation: A fictional garden-story submission form contains an unsaved draft and a photo field. A separate help page explains that field; leaving the form would put the entered work at risk.

Decision: Request a new context for this help link so the reader can consult it while retaining the form.

Proposed link wording: Photo upload help (opens in a new window or tab).

Here, the reason is the unfinished task, not whether the help page is internal or external. The hint appears before activation and describes the requested change. Opening help separately does not establish that the form saves automatically or that the draft will survive a reload. Those are separate behaviors to verify on the actual form.

Check the Decision Where the Link Is Used

Before changing a link, write one sentence naming the work at risk. “The reader has an unsaved submission in this form” is a concrete reason. “This is an external link” merely describes its destination.

After implementation, follow the actual link from its published location. Check the requested opening behavior, whether the advance hint is present, and whether the task you meant to preserve remains available. Record unexpected behavior instead of calling the change verified from an editor switch alone. These checks have not been performed for the teaching situations above.

G200 is advisory, and W3C's techniques are examples rather than mandatory techniques. Its warning recommendation alone does not establish WCAG conformance. Use the guidance to make a specific publishing decision, then verify the real implementation.

When planning your next article, use the blogger keyword research guide to choose the question and the blog-writing guide to finish its answer. Choose each link's opening context from the task at that particular point in the page.