Absolute versus relative links

There are two kinds of links: links to other pages on your Web site and links to other sites on the Web. When you link to other locations, such as Jones's Biochemistry Department site, you must give the full URL. These links are called absolute links. But when you link to other pages on your site, you can and should use a partial URL. If the link is in the same folder as your HTML file, you need only to use the filename. These links are called relative links. For example, if Jones posted another page about the whale she saw, the link would look like this:

When you're building a small site, using fewer than thirty files, keep all your files in the same folder and use relative links. Relative links allow your site to load faster and make it easier for you when you put your site on the server.