Navigating with next/link
Connect your pages with the <Link> component for fast, client-side navigation — and learn why it beats a plain <a> tag for internal links.
Why not just use an <a> tag?
You have an /about page, but no way to get there except typing the URL. You could use a plain <a href="/about"> — and it would work — but it does a full page reload: the browser throws away the whole page and re-downloads everything, causing a visible flash.
Next.js gives you a smarter tool: the <Link> component from next/link. It looks just like an <a>, but it does client-side navigation — it swaps in just the new page without a full reload, so transitions feel instant. It also prefetches linked pages in the background, so they're ready before the user even clicks.
<a> is like leaving a building and walking all the way around to enter through a different door. <Link> is an interior hallway — you step straight from one room to the next, no going outside.Use <Link> for links within your own site (/about, /blog). For links to other websites (like https://nextjs.org), use a normal <a> tag — there's no internal navigation to optimize.