How to Link to a Website: Guide for Different Platforms

Outbound links are arguably as important as inbound links or backlinks since the former directly affects the quality of a page’s content. Blogs without authoritative sources often lack value.

Luckily, linking to a website is easier than getting one from a site. Here, the most complex task is to find the site to send a link to.

The linking process may vary slightly depending on which platform you use to create and post content on your site. However, the overall setting is the same.

In this article, we have explained the procedure of linking to a website and creating a clickable link when necessary.

What Is an Outbound Link?

An outbound link is a link that you put on your content that leads the audience to a different website. When you link content to a different site, it is an external link.

Meanwhile, when the link takes one to another page of the same website, it is an internal link.

External links are necessary to improve the quality of the content, while internal links can improve your site’s SEO by leading the audience to other pages of the domain.

What Is a Hyperlink?

A hyperlink or clickable link is text on a page that you can click on, allowing it to lead you to a different page or generate a pop-up.

Here, the text has a link connected to it. For example, this is a hyperlink that leads to our home page.

You can usually spot a hyperlink simply by looking at the different shades of the text. However, sometimes, it may not be easy to notice until you tap it or hover your mouse over it.

A hyperlink can lead to an image, video, PDF file, HTML file, or other file format in addition to another page.

What Is an Anchor Text?

The piece of text that holds the hyperlink is called an anchor text. Clicking on it will take the user somewhere.

The site owner or content maker must utilize appropriate and engaging anchor text that entices the audience to click on it.

Okay, now that we have explained the related terms, let’s proceed to the linking process step by step in the next section.

Finding the Right Website to Link to

First, you need to find a suitable website to send your backlink to. There are various points behind choosing a site. For example-

It can hold more resources on the topic you are covering in your article
You may have taken some inspiration or ideas from it and now want to credit them
It can be a highly authoritative website (like a government site, official site, or famous news portal) that can back up your claim. Consider it like citing your source when writing an essay.
The website owner may have requested you to send a backlink to them, especially if your own site is one with a high domain authority (DA).
You may simply want to create some internal links on your pages.

Considering the above factors, we can surmise that you need to link to a website that contributes to the overall value of your content.

So, it must be relevant to your niche. It is better if it is also on the same topic as the content.

After finding the website, you must also determine which page you want to link to. Again, choose the most relevant one for your blog.

Creating a Proper Anchor Text

Once you have found a suitable website and page, your next task is to add an anchor text to your blog. This text is where the link will be inserted.

Avoid very generic ones like ‘read more’ or ‘click here for more info’. Instead, go for natural and interesting anchor texts.

Note that John Mueller from Google tweeted about the importance of anchor texts. According to him, they help Google understand a link’s context.

Copying the Targeted Site’s Address

Next, you need to copy the address of the page you are about to link to. Doing so is very straightforward and can be done in multiple ways.

Copying the URL from the Search Bar

Firstly, you can copy the page’s URL from the search bar. Check the top of your screen, and you will find the search bar.

If you are using a desktop or laptop, you can click on the search bar above the link and right-click. This will show a menu from which you can click on ‘copy.’
If you are using mobile devices, press and hold the link text in the search bar. You will then have the option to copy the text.

Sharing the page is also another option to get its linking address.

Go to the page first.
If you are using Chrome browser, select the three dots on the top right of the screen.
Click on ‘Save and Share.’
Select ‘Copy Link.’

If you are using Microsoft Edge, then select the share button near the top right corner of the screen.
From the pop-up window, select ‘copy link’ as shown in the image below.

Inserting the Link to Your Anchor Text

Creating a hyperlink in your content may vary based on the platform you are using to create it. Here, we have given some examples-

Creating Hyperlinks in Google Docs

Inserting links to an anchor text in Google Docs is as simple as it can go. You don’t need browser extensions or anything for that.

Select the anchor text.
Right-click on the mouse.
Click on ‘Insert Link’.

You can shorten this process by highlighting the anchor text and using the keyboard command ctrl+k. This command should also work in many other places besides Google Docs.

Paste your copied link in the empty bar in the pop-up window.
Select ‘Apply.’

And voila! You have successfully linked your content to the targeted page.

Creating Hyperlinks in WordPress

You may be surprised to know that adding a link to a text or content is even easier on WordPress than on Docs. Let’s give you the rundown of the process-

Go to the visual editor and highlight your anchor text.
Right-click on the mouse.
Select the linking symbol (🔗) from the menu.

Once you click on it, you will get a new menu with a text bar on the top.

First, type or paste the copied URL (the target page’s link) on the text bar.
Then, select one of the options from below.

We recommend the first option, ‘Open in New Tab,’ for most links. This option causes the targeted page to open in a new window once someone clicks on the hyperlink.
The second option allows you to use the ‘nofollow’ command. This command makes Google crawlers ignore the link, which is necessary for links that are irrelevant to your content.
The third option is for sponsored links. It comes in handy when you are making a list of the best products from some affiliated platform.

Creating Hyperlinks to WordPress HTML

Adding a hyperlink using WordPress HTML is not really necessary since you can do it far more easily with the normal editor. However, if you still want to do it, here is how-

Type in the following: <a href=”URL”>link text</a>

Here, you replace the URL with the link (with the quotation marks still there) and replace the ‘link text’ with your anchor text.

However, if you want the targeted page to open in a new window, you may need to use the target=”_blank” attribute. So, the code will look like this-

Creating Hyperlinks in Microsoft 365

If you are using Microsoft 365 Word and want to add a hyperlink, follow the steps-

Select your anchor text.
Go to ‘Insert’ from the navigation b bar at the top.
Click on ‘Link’.
Select ‘Insert Link’.

Once you select it, you will get a new pop-up where you can type in or paste the link.

Creating Hyperlinks in Microsoft 365 - insert

Afterward, click on ‘Insert’, and you have successfully made the hyperlink.

How to Avoid Pushing Link Juice with Links

‘Link juice’ or link equity is the value or authority that a link transfers from one page to another. When a site adds a hyperlink to one of its content that leads to another site, the link can pass link equity.

It is one of the reasons why website owners want backlinks. However, you may not always want the audience to stop reading your blog and start focusing on the linked page.

If you want to avoid that, add the hyperlink in a way that will open the linked page in a new window.

Otherwise, if it opens on the same window, most of the audience will end up on the linked page rather than returning to your content.

If you want the hyperlinks to open in a new window, you need to set it up while uploading the content on your website. We already explained how you do it.

You just have to add the ‘target=”_blank” attribute in the code when adding the link address in the HTML.

Are Other Sites Linking to My Website Important?

Linking to other sites improves your content and contributes to your on-page SEO. Meanwhile, other sites linking to your domain help with your off-page SEO.

When another page links to your site, it is an inbound link or a backlink. Backlinks are crucial in ranking higher in SEO.

So, ample research and efforts on link-building are necessary for your site’s development. You need a proper link-building checklist for that.

Musfiqur Memo

Hey, I'm Musfiqur Memo, founder of RankPa.com. I've been dedicated to boosting businesses through specialized SEO and link building services, propelling your online success.