Difference Between Hypertext and Hyperlink

Hypertext vs Hyperlink

Hyperlink is a powerful tool that is made use of to send the reader or surfer to another webpage without having to open a new tab on the search engine. It is simply called a link and is a reference in a hypertext document to another document or to another place on the same text. Hypertext on the other hand is the text displayed on the monitor that contains these hyperlinks and can take the reader to another web page in an instant without having to open a new tab in the search engine.

Hypertext is the text on your screen that has references to other text on different web pages that the reader can immediately go to by just clicking on this text. On the other hand, the references are termed as hyperlinks. Hypertext contains just text and should not be confused with hyper media which contains, besides text, images as well as short videos also. Hypertext is the concept that has made WWW a more flexible and easy to use system.

It is easy to confuse between hypertext and hyperlink as it is hypertext that contains the link to another web page or document. You get to instantly see another document within the document you are reading with the help of these hyperlinks or references. Three terms are commonly used whenever we are talking about hyperlinks, the anchor, the source, and the target. The text which has been hyperlinked in the document that you are reading is called the anchor. Sometimes, when you hover on this anchor, a brief information flashes on the screen about what other information you can get through the reference. The page on which the reader has the anchor is called the source document. Target is usually another webpage to which the reader is directed to when he clicks on the anchor.

Today almost every webpage has words or phrases that have been anchored to provide additional information through hyperlinks and this has benefited website owners through a wheel of these hyperlinks.

In brief: Hypertext vs Hyperlink • Hypertext and hyperlinks are interrelated terms and powerful tools cross linking websites on the net. • Hypertext is the word or the text that has been anchored with a reference that takes one to additional source of information instantly by just clicking on it. • Hyperlink is the URL to which this hypertext takes one to.