Links: anchors, target and rel — interview question

How do you create links to another page, to a section on the same page, to an email address and to a phone number? What do target="_blank" and rel="noopener noreferrer" do?

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Model answer. All use the <a href="..."> element:

HTML

<a href="/colleges/iit-bombay">IIT Bombay</a>              <!-- another page -->
<a href="#placements">Jump to placements</a>               <!-- element with id="placements" -->
<a href="mailto:admissions@example.edu">Email us</a>
<a href="tel:+911234567890">Call admissions</a>
<a href="/brochure.pdf" download>Download brochure</a>
<a href="https://example.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Official site</a>

`target="_blank"` opens the link in a new tab or window. Use it sparingly: it takes control away from the user. If you use it, tell users (an icon or "opens in new tab" text).
`rel="noopener"` stops the new page from getting window.opener, which a malicious page could use to redirect your tab (tabnabbing). Modern browsers apply this by default for _blank, but writing it is still good practice.
`rel="noreferrer"` also hides the Referer header from the destination.
`rel="nofollow"` / "sponsored" / "ugc" tell search engines not to treat the link as an endorsement.

Link text should make sense on its own ("Download the 2026 brochure", not "click here"), because screen-reader users often browse a list of links.

Original UniCircle question. Last reviewed 22 Oct 2026.