Logo as home link

Do most users get that the logo is a link to the home page?

[dalguard]

Do you think most users get that the logo is a link to the home page these days? Is it safe to do away with a more obvious "home" link? I'd like to reclaim some real estate. I also have a home link at the bottom center of each page but I'm thinking of getting rid of the one on the navigational menu.

[Dreamquick]

My 2c says that most users should realise this by now...

But if you believe Jakob Nielson (sp?) then the number of users who realise the logo is a link is slowly increasing but is not at the point where you can totally rely on them understanding this so you should supplement it with a normal link.

- Tony

[rogerd]

Getting rid of the home link in the nav menu is a bit chancy, IMO. Yes, people have come to expect the logo to lead back to the site's main page, but my guess is that more people still click on the nav menu item. Here's an idea - add query strings to the end of each link, e.g., index.htm?src=logo, index.htm?src=navmenu, etc., for a day or so and check your logs. (You could set up some kind of script to write the count to a logfile, but for a quick & dirty test I'd just check my server logs.) If people are using the navmenu, I'd keep it instead of forcing them to hunt for an alternative.

[Sinner_G]

I would not bet on it. Having been at some usability tests, I saw many (mostly new) users not knowing about the logo link.

3 home links seems a bit much, but it depends a lot on that link at the bottom of the page. Does the user always see it without scrolling? Is it obvious at first sight?

If one of tose 2 questions is no, keep the navigation link.

[CuriousWeb]

my 2c says definitely keep the extra links. I bet lots of people don't realise...

[knighty]

definatley keep it.

I consider myself a hardened Internet fiend but for some reason ALWAYS look for something that says home.

I was on a site earlier today that just had the logo and I spent ages cursing the design before remembering the old 'click the logo to go home'

[edit_g]

I always use it and I get really peeved off with sites that leave the logo link free. It doesn't cost you anything to make it link to your homepage- so why not just do it? It will make people like me happy and the ones that don't use that method (or don't know to) won't know. Its a win/win situation.