A hyperlink, often just called a link, is a clickable reference that takes a visitor from one piece of content to another — another page on the same site, an external website, a specific file, or even a particular section further down the same page. Hyperlinks are the fundamental connective structure that makes the web an interconnected "web" in the first place.
The Main Types of Hyperlinks
- Internal links — connect to another page within the same website
- External links — point out to a different website entirely
- Anchor links — jump to a specific section within the same page
- Email and telephone links — open a mail client or dialler directly
DoFollow vs. NoFollow
By default, links pass along some ranking value to the page they point to — commonly called "link juice." Adding a `rel="nofollow"` attribute tells search engines not to pass that value along, which is typically used for sponsored content, paid links, or links to sources that haven't been fully vetted.
Best Practices for Using Links
- Use descriptive, meaningful anchor text instead of generic phrases like "click here"
- Open external links in a new tab, so visitors aren't pulled away from your site entirely
- Regularly check for and fix broken links, since they hurt both user experience and SEO
- Use internal links generously to help visitors discover more of a site's content