How do I elegantly insert a URL?

How do you elegantly insert a link to an external website into a post.

In other words I want to have something which says Read This, rather than a long rambling URL.

Despite (or perhaps because of) working in IT for over 10 years I can seem to get this right

 

Type in the word that you want to be hyperlinked, highlight it and click on the hyperlink button and copy and paste in the website to the box that comes up. Click OK and thats it.

I hope that clear enough.

 

If you highlight the words in your message that you want to use as the link, then click the 'globe with a chain link' icon and past the URL in there.

Or use {URL="http://whatever.com"}Link{/URL} but with square brackets instead of squigggggly ones.

 

just testing it out - please ignore

 

Thanks Joe and Wobbly John - that's very clear, and remarkably obvious once you explain it.

I think I was assuming it would be far more complicated!