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The Web wouldn't be the Web without hyperlinks — after all, they can connect your site to the rest of the Web and turn a collection of pages into a cohesive site. But overusing or misusing links can detract from your site and even lose you some business.
Choose your off-site links wisely
Internal linking is almost a walk in the park compared to external linking — after all, when you link to pages on your own site, the pages those links point to are under your control. You know what's on them today and what will be on them tomorrow, and even whether they will exist tomorrow. When you link to resources on someone else's site, however, all bets are off. You don't maintain those pages, you can't modify their content , and you certainly won't know when they disappear. Neither will your visitors — till they slam into a 404 Page not found message (the usual sign of a broken link that now goes nowhere).
Links to other sites are more useful when they're relatively stable and have less chance of breaking. Consider these suggestions:
- Link to a particular section of a site rather than a specific page on the site. Pages come and go on sites, especially large ones, but the general organization typically stays the same, making sections a better linking bet.
- Carefully choose what sites you link to. Sites maintained by companies don't usually go away, but those maintained by individuals do so more often.
- Rather than linking directly to PDFs or images or other media files on a site, link to the pages on the site that link to those resources. Sites often update the resources and give them new names. The page that links to the resource will almost always be updated to reflect new names, so the page is a safer linking bet.
 | Good linking practices are not a substitute for regular site maintenance. You should regularly check (once a week if possible, once a month at least) all links from your site to external sites to be sure they're still working. |
 | Even though you don't control the content on the Web sites you link to, providing links to them implies your support or endorsement of those sites. When a visitor follows a link from your site to someone else's site, he or she thinks you approve of the content on that new site. That human quirk makes a couple of guidelines necessary: |
- If you don't want to be associated with content on a particular external site, don't link to the site. Seems obvious, doesn't it? But the only way to find out whether you approve of a seemingly relevant site is to visit it and check it out before you link.
- Periodically review your links to be sure the sites' owners are still the same — and that the content is still appropriate. When domain names expire, new owners may take them over and create new content that's completely irrelevant — or, worse, damaging to your image (think pornography).
Craft useful link text
The text you associate with links is just as important as the links you choose to use on your site. The text gives users a hint about where the link is taking them so they can decide whether to go along for the ride. For example, Visit Dummies.com to read more about this book is much more helpful than Read more about this book.
The first bit of text tells visitors they're going to leave the current site to visit Dummies.com and read more about a book there. The second just tells them they're going to read more about the book — and they might be surprised to find themselves flung off one site and onto another.
Generally, when you create link text, let users know the following:
- Whether they're leaving your site.
- What kind of information the page they're linking to contains.
- How the linked site relates to the current content or page on your site
The goal of your link text should be to inform users and build their trust. If your link text doesn't give them solid clues about what to expect from your links, they simply won't trust your links — and won't follow them.
 | Always avoid the use of "click here" in any link you create. If you link text is well crafted, you don't need the extra words to prompt the user to click on a link. The link text should speak for itself. |
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