: Do print and bookmark links really work? It seems to be common on the web to provide users with some visual element on the page to either print or bookmark a page. This is all well and

@Annie201

Of course they are used. The user may intend to print the page anyway, but you have made it easier for him.

If you intend to implement it make sure to track everything.
Use GA for event tracking to track the clicks on "Add to Favorites" or "print this".
Use GA to track the links by adding tags to your links, then view the number of visits it generates under the source/medium report in GA

see here: www.google.com/support/analytics/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=55578
Here is an example (Note: window.external.AddFavorite only works in IE):

<a href="#" onclick="_gaq.push(['_trackEvent','share', 'favorites', 'page name']);window.external.AddFavorite('http://www.example.com?utm_source=share&utm_medium=favorites&utm_campaign=bookmark', 'Website Name'); return false;">Bookmark this Site/page</a>

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@Kevin317

I don't think you're going to find any actual hard data on this as there is no way to tell if anyone uses these links without actually looking over their shoulder (or installing spyware on all of your users' computers).

I don't know if they increase in bookmarking or printing but I don't think that matters. What it boils down to is usability. Does it make your site more usable? If yes then it's a good thing to do even if it doesn't mean more people do it but more people have a better experience on your site or while using your software.

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