When you create a website, you want to be sure that visitors will have no problem finding what they are looking for. Particularly today, when most of us surf the web from our phones, we’re constantly scrolling through long sites and Facebook newsfeeds, giving our thumbs their daily workout as we look for specific information.
Anchor links help improve website navigation. They help users find answers to their questions, without needing to scroll endlessly or search for the relevant page in your main menu. A single click on an anchor will take them exactly where they want to go: back to top, down to the bottom or straight to your FAQ page. Learn more about anchor links and how you add them on your site. Your visitors – and their thumbs – will thank you!
What are anchor links?
Anchors are invisible position markers that you can place anywhere on your site. You can use them to send your visitors to a section about one of the services you offer or to the answer of a popular FAQ.
There are two primary ways you can use anchors on your site:
Link elements to an anchor- You can create an anchor to any element on your website, such as an image, a button or a certain line of text. Once you have set the anchor, you can link to that location from any other element on your site. A visitor who clicks on one of these elements will be taken straight to the relevant anchor.
Create an anchor menu-If you have created several anchors on your site, you can display them all in a cool floating anchor menu. This website menu follows your visitors as they scroll down your page, making it super easy for them to navigate your site. On websites with abundant pages, a classic menu is often enhanced with breadcrumb navigation, helping visitors keep track of their location.
Why are anchor links good?
Anchor links are great because they improve the UX, or user experience, of your site. They help people skip to the most relevant part of your website without having to scroll through sections that don’t interest them.
Particularly because single page websites and long scrolling websites are all the rage right now, anchor links help visitors navigate with ease. Moreover, anchor links are your cell phone’s best friend. Visitors who are checking out your site from their cellphones can easily have an easier mobile navigation experience by clicking on an anchor that takes them straight to what they are looking for.
Where can you use anchor links?
You can throw down an anchor pretty much anywhere on your site! Place anchors in your header or footer, on a certain paragraph of your About page, on a PayPal button where you accept donations or on the bio of your CEO. The options are limitless!
How to create anchor links on Wix
Using the Wix Editor, it’s easy to add anchors on your site. Here’s the low-down:
In the Wix Editor, choose Add in the left menu.
Click on More.
Click on the anchor under Anchors or drag it to the relevant location on your page.
Drag the anchor to the location it will lead to.
Once you’ve created all the desired anchors, you need to add the links. You can either create an anchor menu to help visitors jump to your anchors or link any element on the site to one of the anchors. To add the links, follow these two steps:
Click on the element you want the anchors to be attached to and choose ‘Link To’.
Choose the anchor option and then specify the relevant anchor