I can't imagine a website without links. Well, you could actually build webpages with no links to anywhere but that will not be fun to do, will they?
Links are very special part of the web because without links, our webpages will not be connected. It will not look like a web, but more like spaghetti strands — a description not fit with the vision of the smart people who created the World Wide Web.
Link our thoughts
Before we continue, I'll share a bit of history. While Tim Berners-Lee's work paved the way for the World Wide Web, it was Vannevar Bush who introduced the concept of linking documents into a single trail of information in his essay "As We May Think" published in 1945. Then in 1965, Ted Nelson, coined the term "hyperlink" for his Project Xanadu.
When we include a link in our webpage, what we are trying to do is to associate the link with another thought located on the Internet. The link could be for a detailed information on our website, or a reference in another site. Technically, it is very easy to provide links in a webpage. The hard part is communicating the meaning of the link.
When you see the link What are cookies?, what I am trying to tell you is that if you click on the link, you will be taken to another webpage that answers the question, "What are cookies." At least that's what I am trying to tell you.
The problem with communication is that the you may be interpreting the message differently from what I am trying to say. "Cookies" may be interpreted as a special computer code by geeks or a tasty children snack by mothers, depending on the context where the word "cookies" appears, knowledge differences, and other things.
When we are talking to another person face-to-face, we have cues on whether the other party understands us. When she nods her head, crosses her eyebrows, or says "I don't understand", we can see and hear it. Given our ability to process multiple signals at the same time, we can react instantly and use alternative approaches to deliver our message. We could pause to give her time to think, repeat what we have just said but this time talking a bit slower, use an analogy, or draw on the whiteboard.
Unfortunately in the Web, our feedback tools are limited and our chance of getting feedback instantly is almost nil. When people visit our website, we could be asleep. Even if we are awake, we wouldn't know she is reading. Even if she gives a feedback, the medium is limited to words and pictures only.