For example the Apple logo takes you to the homepage of apple.com from any page.
Even I link the logo to the homepage, but doesn't it make more sense if we link it to the about page?
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@tohster It's more a question about what the alternative could be than about why the home page is the standard.– jazZRoAug 7, 2015 at 9:01
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Logo linking to the home page is an extremely established convention. What do you gain by abandoning it?– obeliaAug 7, 2015 at 16:22
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"but doesn't it make more sense if we link it to the about page?" - why? This question is impossible to answer unless we know your motivation for wanting to link to the About page.– O. R. MapperAug 7, 2015 at 18:42
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@obelia no one is talking about abandoning that convention. All I'm asking is what made us start doing it and why we keep doing it. Since it's the logo, which represents the company, it makes sense if we link it to the about page as well.– RahulAug 8, 2015 at 4:56
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@4thAvenue - if you're talking about historical reasons: the "about" page wasn't nearly as prevalent in the early days of the web. But there always was a "home" page, and it just seemed to make sense to link the logo to the home page. If someone lands deep in your site you want to make it easy to get to the home page - that's more desirable than getting them to your about page - so you have multiple ways to get to the home page.– obeliaAug 8, 2015 at 15:26
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4 Answers
Notwithstanding the familiarization aspect from almost every other website, linking to the about page has a couple of serious issues.
Firstly, if you link it to the about page, then you still need a link to the important home page. So now you need another prominent home logo or home menu item. This would add clutter, complexity and potentially confuse.
Secondly, there would be a disconnect between the importance of your brand/logo (which you place in the most prominent position possible) and the relative importance of its destination page. The about page is much less important to a typical person browsing the site and often the about link isn't found until you reach the small print links at the right side of the footer. So identifying and linking it with the logo might end up devaluing the logo, the brand, and the impression of the company. That's because the thing that symbolizes the company takes me somewhere I almost certainly don't want to go and that's a very negative emotion to instill in a majority of users.
The brand has to promote positive emotions and this comes from sending the visitor to a 'comforting home' location that allows user to feel in control.
answered Aug 7, 2015 at 8:59
You should not do this for a couple of reasons: first, as has been said before, users are used to clicking on the logo to go to the home page. This phenomenon called baby duck symptom means that users stick to things that they already know. Changing where the logo links would also be a violation of the "Consistency and Standards" Heuristic. (Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform conventions.)
I think its more like 'trained behaviour', repeat a pattern enough until it is accepted, kinda like the hamburger icon. (although it provides lower discoverability, it has its place it the world.
Another way of looking at it, is that the landing page is in part the about page: looking at the home page should definitly give you clues of the information you'll find and if it will fit your need, more than knowing what year the company was founded and so on.
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A logo alone doesn’t give any hint of the page behind it. Any page would be as unlogical as the home page, also the about page. +1 As this answers why we don’t have to move away from the existing pattern. But if a change has to be made, I would say don’t make the logo interactive at all, at least not without a clear affordance.– jazZRoAug 7, 2015 at 8:57
You have raised a good point but linking logos to "Home" page is more like a convention now. For a better user experience it would be advisable to link it to the home page because you don't want your user's to think hard while using your website. The flow of the actions should be smooth.
