Both types of links are known as ‘hyperlinks’ and tell the visitor to go to another place to get the information, they are both made in the same way but an external link should always be set to open in a new page or tab in the browser. This is also good practice if you are opening up documents such as pdfs. The prinicple is that you don’t want someone to close down your site just because they click on a link to another site. It can be frustrating to visitors if it is not clear where they have gone to or how they get back. In marketing terms you should keep people on your site for as long as possible in order to find all the information you wish to show them or all the products or services you have to offer.
To make a link in a WordPress site is a reasonably simple process but can differ according to the theme used. Here below is the most common method:
Start by navigating to the site you would like to link to, I usually do this on another browser tab so I can quickly go from my WordPress dashboard to get the full link. Place your cursor in the browser address bar and copy the full link.
Go back to your web page where you are adding the link and create the text you would like to link from, this could be a simple ‘Click here’ to find out more… or just the web address. Below are two examples:
Click here to read more
www.kitewebdesign.co.uk
Highlight the link text and at the top of your editing box you will see the link icon
Click on the link to open the quick link box and place your cursor in the url section. Paste in the link you copied in your browser. Click the blue arrow to apply the link.
Save / update your page to save the link.
How to open your link in a new tab
Click within the link you have just made and click on the pen icon just below it, then click on the cog icon beside the blue arrow (see above).
This will open up the full Insert/Edit link box. You will see at the top of the box your full url to link to, the link text box is where you can edit the words on the page that make the link. Below this is the ‘Open in a new tab’, make sure you click in this tick box and then click the blue Update button.
Publish or update your page and then click to view the page. Test your link opens in a new tab.
Making links using a visual composer / page builder
Each visual composer will have a slightly different set of instuctions to achieve the right result. For example in Divi’s text editing module you can highlight the text to make a link and when you click on the link icon in the text editing box you will get a smaller box showing the link, link text and an option to select the target – choose the new window / tab and click to confirm.
