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61 hyperlinkis in a news release?

CNW put a news release the other day about changes occuring to their Web site and I think they set a new record for hyperlinks in a news release - they had 61 hyperlinks.

It made me think, should there be a limit on how many hyperlinks you should include in a news release?

I think there is. Ten hyperlinks is a lot and I think fifteen should be the absolute maximum.

Also, once you hyperlink something one time, you don't have to keep hyperlinking it. In the CNW release the phrase 'news release' is hyperlinked seven times, with all references pointing back to the same web page. The reason I think you should only hyperlink something one time is because it only frustrates the reader by making them think that there is additional content, only to be redirected over and over to the same page.

While promoting additional content associated with your release is a good thing, once you start getting passed 10 hyperlinks I think you risk creating a confusing experience for your reader.

If the reader clicks on these links (and I would assume you want them to, that's why you hyperlink), then they are interrupting their reading of your news release 61 times (or thereabouts). No message, no matter how salient it may be, can remain cohesive and salient if interrupted that many times.  The reading experience becomes jarring, jumping back and forth between the release and additional content associated with the releases.

I'd favor keeping hyperlinking to a maximum of five links within the body of the news release and then if you have even more content, identify that content (with hyperlinks) at the end of your news release.


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