There would be no World Wide Web were it not for hyperlinks. In fact, hyperlinks (or just links) are what make the Web what it is: a worldwide network of interconnected documents.

Link within Your Web Site

Links within your Web site are called internal links. For instance, all of your navigation items should be internal links. You may want to link words or phrases in a text block to pages that have more information on that word or phrase. You also may want to link an image displayed on a page to a larger version of that image so users can see more detail if they choose.

Adding an internal link to a Web page using a Web design tool is pretty much the same procedure no matter which program you've chosen. You'll need to highlight the text to be linked, or select the image to be linked, and click the program's linking function. Then, you can use the tool to navigate to the HTML file or image that the link should go to. The Web design tool will create the proper link automatically.

Be sure to read your Web design tool's manual and take any tutorials to make sure that you understand how to use your specific Web design tool's linking function.

Create a Web Site Map

Another way that internal links are used is in the creation of a site map. A site map, as you learned in Lesson 1, is a listing of all of the pages or (for larger sites) all of the sections of your Web site. Each page or section listed on the site map is linked to the actual page or section. It's usually presented hierarchically, such as on the Apple Web site.

Site maps are helpful when having your site added to a search engine. You'll learn more about this in Lesson 6.

For a better sense of how pages are linked together on other sites, look for site map sections of some of your favorite Web sites while you're browsing the Web.

Link to Other Web Sites

The spirit of the Web is one of interconnectedness. As the title of this page says, "Links make the Web go 'round." And in that spirit, you should have links on your site to other Web sites. Some ways to use external links on your site are:

• Linking words or phrases in your site's text to Web sites with more information on that topic.
• Adding a list of resources on other Web sites related to a particular topic or topics covered on your Web site (and linking the items in the list, of course!).
• Creating a special Web page on your site that lists related Web sites. If you're creating a personal site, it may just be a list of "Web Sites That I Like."

Adding an external link to your site is pretty similar to adding an internal link. In your Web design tool, highlight or select the text or image to be linked, and click the program's linking function. In the text box provided, type the entire URL (Uniform Resource Locator, or Web address) of the page you're linking to, such as http://www.google.com or something more specific, such as http://autos.netscape.com/?gname=uglycar.

Use links to lay out how your Web site is going to flow. Be sure to think about how a visitor is going to want to intuitively go through the site gathering information, making decisions about which product makes the most sense for them, and then moving on to make a purchase. If you link your pages together intuitively, visitors will be more likely to feel good about your site and come back for more. In the next section, you'll learn how to preview your Web site to make sure everything is working and the visitor's path through the site makes sense.