Glossary
What Is the Three-Click Rule
The three-click rule requires that any landing page reach a primary source in at most three clicks.
- Author
- Xingge
- Published
- 2026-11-09
- Updated
- 2026-11-09
- Level
- L2 Reproducible
- Version
- 1.0
Term details
- Name
- What Is the Three-Click Rule
- Type
- Glossary
- ID
- three-click-rule-definition-en
What Is the Three-Click Rule
The three-click rule requires that starting from any landing page, a primary source be reachable in at most three clicks. If the original text takes more than three clicks to find, there is effectively no source, and the conclusion should get a direct link or be deleted.
Definition
This site's working definition: the three-click rule is a distance constraint on source reachability, with the path landing page, then evidence block source, then primary source; three segments or fewer pass.
Counting starts at the landing page, and every page transition counts as one hop, including intermediate pages on the same site. Cross-site jumps are not converted or discounted.
Boundaries: what it is easily confused with
| Easily confused concept | Key difference |
|---|---|
| Six hops | The six hops are a verification checklist; the three clicks are a distance constraint |
| Number of internal links | More links do not mean shorter distance |
| Homepage depth | Homepage click depth and source distance are two different things |
Common misconceptions
- Substituting homepage navigation depth for source distance. Readers start from the claim.
- Counting an intermediate page on the same site as a free hop. On-site intermediate pages still consume clicks.
- Replacing links with prose descriptions when the distance exceeds three clicks. A description cannot replace a clickable original.
Basis and verification
This definition is this site's working definition, marked L2, and is an empirical method. Operating details and broken-link repair are on the corresponding method page in the method index.
Review cycle: 180 days.
Related sections: glossary index, method index, metric index, editorial policy.