An external link points to a page on a different website
An external link is a clickable piece of text or an image that takes you to a web page on a domain other than the one you are currently viewing. If you are reading an article on example.com and click a link that takes you to wikipedia.org, that is an external link. The browser opens the destination page in the same tab, a new tab, or a new window — depending on how the link was built.
External links are different from internal links, which connect pages within the same website. A news site linking to its own archive is an internal link. That same news site linking to a government database or a research paper is an external link.
Web developers use external links to point readers toward sources, related information, or tools that live elsewhere on the internet. They also use external links to cite where information came from, to comply with legal requirements, or to send traffic to partner sites.
Key Takeaways
- External links point to pages on different websites and are built using HTML anchor tags with an href attribute that contains the full web address.
- Developers can control whether an external link opens in the same tab, a new tab, or a new window by using the target attribute in the code.
- Search engines use external links to understand which websites are trustworthy and how pages relate to each other across the web.
- External links can be styled differently from internal links so visitors know they are leaving the current site.
How external links are written in code
An external link is created using an HTML anchor tag, which looks like this: <a href="https://example.com">Click here</a>. The href attribute contains the full web address of the destination page. The text between the opening and closing tags is what the visitor sees and clicks on.
The key difference from an internal link is that the href value includes the full domain name. An internal link might say href="/about", but an external link must say href="https://example.com/about" or href="https://another-site.com/about".
Developers can add a target="_blank" attribute to make the link open in a new tab instead of replacing the current page. This keeps the original site visible while the visitor reads the external page. Many sites do this for external links so visitors do not lose their place.
Why developers add external links to websites
External links serve several practical purposes. A blog post about climate science might link to peer-reviewed studies or government climate data. A product review site links to the manufacturer's page so readers can buy directly. A news article links to the original source document or a related story on another outlet.
External links also build trust. When a website cites its sources and points readers toward authoritative information elsewhere, it signals that the author has done research and is not hiding anything. Readers are more likely to believe content that is backed up by links to verifiable sources.
From a technical standpoint, external links also affect how search engines rank pages. Search engines treat external links as votes of confidence — if many reputable sites link to a page, that page is likely to be important or trustworthy. This is one reason why developers think carefully about which external sites they link to.
The difference between external links and other types of navigation
Internal links keep visitors moving through the same website. External links send them away. Some sites use redirects — a special code that automatically sends a visitor from one URL to another — but that is different from an external link. A redirect happens behind the scenes; an external link is something the visitor chooses to click.
A button can also function like a link if it is coded to navigate to a URL. Buttons and links often look different on the page, but they can do the same job. The choice between a button and a link is usually about design and what action the developer wants to emphasize.
Some sites use anchor links to jump to different sections of the same page — for example, a table of contents at the top that links to headings lower down. These are internal links, not external links, because they stay within the same domain.
How to tell if a link is external
Many websites style external links differently so visitors know they are leaving. Common visual cues include a different color, an underline, or a small icon (often an arrow or a box with an arrow) next to the link text. Hovering over a link sometimes shows the destination URL at the bottom of the browser window, which lets you see where it goes before you click.
Right-clicking a link and selecting "Copy link address" or "Inspect" lets you see the actual URL. If the domain in the URL is different from the domain of the current page, it is an external link.
Some browsers also show a preview of the destination page if you hover over a link long enough, though this feature varies by browser and website settings.
Security and privacy considerations with external links
When you click an external link, your browser sends information to the destination website, including the page you came from. This is called the referrer. Some websites use this information to track where their traffic comes from. If you want to prevent this, you can use your browser's privacy settings or a privacy extension, though this may break some website features.
External links can also pose a security risk if they point to malicious sites. Developers should only link to sites they trust. Visitors should be cautious about clicking links from sources they do not know well, especially if the link looks suspicious or the destination URL does not match the link text.
Some external links use rel attributes like rel="nofollow" or rel="noopener" to control how the link behaves. A nofollow link tells search engines not to count it as a vote of confidence. A noopener link prevents the destination page from accessing certain information about the page that linked to it, which is a security measure.
External links and search engine optimization
Search engines use external links as one signal of a website's authority and relevance. A page that is linked to by many reputable external sources is likely to rank higher in search results than a page with few external links pointing to it. This is why developers care about both the external links they add to their own pages and the external links that other sites add to theirs.
However, not all external links carry the same weight. A link from a well-known, trusted website is worth more than a link from an unknown site. Search engines have become sophisticated at detecting low-quality external links that are added purely to manipulate rankings, and they penalize sites that engage in this practice.
Developers also think about the anchor text — the visible words in the link — because search engines use this to understand what the destination page is about. A link that says "learn more about climate science" tells search engines more than a link that says "click here".
Frequently Asked Questions
Can an external link slow down my website?
No. External links are just HTML code that points to another URL. They do not load the destination page until someone clicks them, so they do not affect your site's speed. However, if you embed content from an external source (like a video player or a map), that can slow things down because the browser has to load that content too.
What happens if an external link breaks?
If the destination page is deleted or moved, the link becomes broken. Visitors who click it will see a 404 error or a similar message. Developers can use tools to scan their sites for broken external links and fix them by updating the URL or removing the link.
Do I have to ask permission before linking to another website?
No. Linking to another website is legal and does not require permission. However, if you are copying content from another site and displaying it on your own, that is different — that may violate copyright. Linking to content is always allowed.
Why do some external links open in a new tab automatically?
Developers add target="_blank" to external links so visitors stay on the original site while reading the destination page. This is a user experience choice. Some people prefer this; others find it annoying because it creates extra browser tabs.
Can external links hurt my website's ranking?
Linking to reputable, relevant external sources does not hurt your ranking. In fact, it can help because it shows you have done research and are pointing readers toward authoritative information. Linking to low-quality or spammy sites can hurt your ranking, so developers choose their external links carefully.