Links are the lifeblood of the web.

Without links, we wouldn’t get anywhere online. They are integral to web browsing by definition – without links, there would be no browsing.

Links aren’t just just the lifeblood of the web though; they’re often described as the Internet’s ‘currency’ too. By linking to other pages on your site and other sites on the web, you are choosing where to direct visitors. That often has value, depending on where you are directing them.

For example, if I recommend Bluehost as my web hosting provider of choice and you make a purchase through that link, I will be paid a referral fee. That is a very literal example of how valuable links can be.

With the above said, every beginner blogger should learn how to add and edit links as soon as possible. And that’s what this post is for.

How to Insert a Link Into a WordPress Post or Page

As you might expect with WordPress, inserting a link into a post or page is a piece of cake.

You have a couple of options. You can use either the:

1. Insert/edit link button, or
2. keyboard shortcut.

The button is more immediately obvious, but you’ll find that adding links to WordPress posts and pages is a quicker process if you learn the keyboard shortcut. It’s up to you!

To start, navigate to Posts > Add New from the sidebar in your WordPress dashboard:

We’re using the Post screen for this tutorial, but the same instructions apply to the Page screen.

Let’s start by typing some text into the text editor:

Within the context of what I’ve written, it would make sense to link to the WordPress homepage, so that people can find out more if they want to. To create a link to WordPress.org, first select the text you would like to use as a link:

Then click on the Insert/edit link button in the toolbar:

Alternatively, use one of the following keyboard shortcuts:

1. Shift + Alt + A (PC)
2. Shift + Option + A (Mac)

A screen containing a couple of fields will pop up:

The URL field is where you should insert the destination URL (i.e. the webpage that the visitor goes to when they click on the link you’re creating).

The Title field should contain any relevant text pertaining to the link. This text will appear as a tooltip when a visitors hovers over the link. You don’t need to put anything in this link, but it can be useful to do so to give visitors additional information.

The Open link in a new window/tab checkbox determines, as you would expect, whether the link is opened in a new browser tab or in the existing tab.

Finally, you’ll notice a Or link to existing content option. If you click on this, a list of posts and pages already published on your blog will appear. If you select one of these items, the URL and Title fields will be automatically populated:

It’s a very useful option to have when you’re linking to other posts and pages on your site.

Now let’s get back to our link. We want to link to the WordPress.org homepage, and we might as well also add some Title text explaining where the link leads. I’m also going to select the link to open in a new tab/window:

When you’re happy with how everything looks, click on the Add Link button. You’ll be returned to the Post screen, where the WordPress text will now appear as a hyperlink:

Let’s take a look at the link in action. Click on the Preview button and a window containing a preview of our post will open up in a new tab, complete with our new link:

And as you would expect, if you click on the link, the WordPress.org homepage will open in a new tab in your browser!

How to Remove a Link From a WordPress Post or Page

If you create a link in error or want to remove a link for whatever reason, the process is easily reversed.

Simply select the link you want to remove and click on the Remove link button:

That’s all there is to it – the link will disappear.

Now you know how to add, edit and remove links. Use your new-found power wisely!

Photo Credit: Gary Millar