Link
What is a Link?
Link is the short version of “hyperlink”, which is essentially an HTML object that takes you from one location on the Internet to the other. When you click on a link, it allows you to jump from one place to another. This is how all movement on the Internet takes place.
Links are found on every webpage. They make navigating between pages easier. Instead of having to type the address for every webpage that you visit, you can easily click on a link and make your way to the next location that way.
The reason why links are so convenient is that they can be easily attached to other HTML elements such as images and text. When the text is a color like blue or red, it probably has a link attached to it. The standard color for most browsers in this regard is blue. However, you can make the hyperlinks on your website be any color that you like by using the HTML and CSS styles.
When attached to an image, the link tag surrounds the image tag. This way, the image tag is nested inside the link tag, and therefore the image becomes a link itself. If you click on the image, you will be redirected to the link!
Different Types of Links
Now that we know what links are, let’s look at the different kinds of links you are likely to witness across the web, especially for the purposes of SEO.
<a> Link
An <a> link is an SEO tag. The most extensive chunk of external and internal domain linking is implemented through this HTML tag. The way a <a> link works is by creating a hyperlink with a href attribute. This includes the link’s destination, as well as the anchor text.
For example: <a href=”https://www.somethingcool.com”>Visit SomethingCool.com!</a>
Image Links
An image link is used by search engines to understand the relevance of the image displayed to the user. This includes the alt and title tag.
For example: <a href=”https://www.somethingcool.com”>
<img src=”somethingcoollogo.jpg” alt=”Somethingcool logo of intersecting red squares” />
</a>
JavaScript Links
JavaScript links exist and can be used, but they aren’t always crawlable by the search engine. However, you can create a crawlable JavaScript link. This is what it looks like:
script>
var a = document.createElement(‘a’);
var linkText = document.createTextNode(“my title text”);
a.appendChild(linkText);
a.title = “my title text”;
a.href = “https://somethingcool.com”;
document.body.appendChild(a);
</script>
Rel Links
Rel Link includes a rel attribute that specifies the relationship between the current document and the linked source. In SEO, a rel link is most commonly used as a canonical tag. Through a canonical tag, you tell the search engine which pages to index. Canonical tags are important because they help you avoid duplicate content issues. This is what it looks like:
<link rel=”canonical” href=”https://www.somethingcool.com”>
Nofollow Links
Nofollow links allow you to prevent a search engine from accessing pages that will essentially be a waste of time. This allows you to improve your crawl budget. The two ways that nofollow links can be implemented are:
<meta name=”robots” content=”nofollow” />
<a href=”example.php” rel=”nofollow”>sign in</a>
The Bottom Line
Links are an important part of the Internet’s architecture. They make navigation easier, and allow us to experience the Internet in all its glory! In order to make sure that your ranking is what you want it to be, you must understand the power of links! Trust me, you won’t regret it.