I'm sure that you have heard about links, linking and hyperlinking on the web. There are of course different types of links to use in websites. The following is all about links and linking.

What are Links?
A link is essentially a connection, which ties one web source to another web source. A link has 2 anchors, which are the 2 ends of the link. It will begin at one point, the source, and is connected to the target. These are also referred to as the source anchor and the destination anchor.

Links and Linking
Links formulate the web on the internet, which help users move from one site to another. They are an essential part of a website. Links are also referred to as hyperlinks. All internet users have used links within a website to link to another website.

Why Have Links?
Not only do links create a web for the world wide web, but, they are essential to optimise your site. Before you understand how linking can optimise your site you need to know what SEO is and understand the importance of SEO. This makes the benefit of linking clear, as they will help to increase user traffic, which can be converted to sales and profit.

Linking and SEO
Whilst considering writing for SEO and designing your site for SEO, you need to build links to help optimise your site. Make sure that your links have essential keywords and keyword phrases; this can help "spiders" to index and rank your site. 

Components of Links
The following provide all or some of the components of a link, such as:

• A destination
• A title
• A label also known as anchor text
• The place the link will open, also known as a target.
• A link ID or class

Internal Links
Internal links are links within a website that allow users to link to content within one site. Users can be linked to further information, regarding their search topic, within the website.

External Links
External links take the user from one site to another site. This allows users to link between different websites. Users are able to be linked to further information regarding their topic of choice.

Inbound Links
Inbound links are also referred to as backlinks or inlinks. They represent links on external websites that link users to your site.

Types of Links
There are 3 types of links that can be discussed, these include:

• 1-way linking
• 3-way linking
• Reciprocal linking

1-way Linking

• 1-way linking occurs when your site is linked back to by another site.
• It is also referred to as incoming links.
• These are powerful links.

3-way Linking

• Here sites are not directly linked to each other.
• Sites are linked in a circular manner.
• It is best illustrated using sites X, Y and Z; where X will link to Y and Y will link to Z and Z will link back to X.

Reciprocal Linking

• Reciprocal linking occurs when sites swap links with each other.

Linking and Your Website
Now that you know that links are an important factor of a website it is important to optimise your site. Optimus01 can help you to optimise your site for SEO while effectively building links, analyzing links and using an internal link strategy. Contact Us for more information on our SEO Services and Prices.

Conclusion
Knowing all about links and linking is an important part of understanding the web, and optimising your site. Without links there would be no web and no opportunity to increase traffic flow to your website.