Just as our bodies require arteries and veins, so do websites need links for their functionality. They carry the user throughout the website and are usually the primary way of accessing 3rd party websites.
And while laypeople consider them to be an intrinsic part of the internet, the reality is that links need stringent regulation. A web developer can’t risk the responsibility of having malicious 3rd party links.
This all revolves around proper external and internal link building. Internal links are all links through which users can navigate inside your website. These links are rarely a problem as you made them yourself.
But there’s a considerable risk when it comes to external links. And as the internet is ever-changing, some of those external links might be corrupted, hiding malicious intentions, or they just might be broken.
From simple comments to full-blown forums, anywhere a user can post a link to a 3rd party website presents a risk to your integrity. But you, the developer, shouldn’t be liable if the website user goes off your site.
Therefore the best way to notify users that they’re leaving your website is with a popup. This popup is monumentally vital to all websites, especially if it has user-generated content.
You can streamline link popup creation using WP Links, facilitating link popup creation and making managing websites much more effortless.
How to Customize Link Popups
With WP Links, you can ensure that your users are promptly notified of leaving your site. You can do this by applying Exit Confirmation in the plugin. This setting applies exit confirmation to all external links on your website.
Here you can customize every little bit of your popup and ensure it fits your website’s theme. Everything can be altered to suit your needs, from the background colors of the popup and the title to text size and coloring.
While people often dismiss popup customization as trivial, it has been proven that the look of a popup impacts the overall user experience. No user wants to see a blindingly white popup before they go to sleep after binging their favorite show.
Similarly, any popup with a jarring color scheme compared to your website may produce the same effect. The main feature any developer should focus on is the text box. Exit confirmations are useless if they aren’t followed by a text that expunges responsibility from the website.
These exit confirmation popups can be a goodbye message if you know where the external links are heading. Or, if you want to be a bit savvier, use this message as an enticement for the user to see, like in this example.
Of course, there are more important reasons why you should have an exit confirmation popup. As previously mentioned, the biggest one is security. Websites can change ownership, be overhauled, and even hacked, so if you have a page with old links, you could lead users into a malicious trap.
And if you have a comment section on your website, anyone could be posting links on your site, so the risk grows exponentially. And while you might be unaware that such dangers exist on your links, why not take an extra precaution by having a popup that says you’re not responsible for what’s inside external links?
Link Exceptions and How They Impact Your Popups
But there are plenty of safe and trusted sites your external links can connect to. WP Links has an Exceptions tab that can exclude popups for specified websites. These exceptions can be the perfect tool if you have multiple websites and want to create stronger connections.
Without an exit confirmation, popup users will seamlessly transition from one website to another. If you combine these two settings, you’ll create an environment where you passively promote your site by making their access easier while keeping yourself problem-free from potential 3rd party issues.
Final Thoughts
Keeping the website and its users safe should be the primary concern of any web developer. And while there are a plethora of security plugins handle various online security issues, none cover the external link liability.
That’s why you should use a link manager like WP Links, as it simplifies the entire process of creating and customizing links. An exit confirmation popup that detaches you from the link responsibility may be just what you need in an unexpected situation.