What is a URL?
A URL (which stands for Uniform Resource Locator) is a mechanism that is used by web browsers to store any published resource on the web. Simply put, it helps to locate websites on the Internet.
Most of the web browsers show the URL of a website in an address bar that is placed above the page. Users can use the URL to find or refer to the webpage that they want to.
The URL should be distinguished from a link. In fact, a link is just a clickable snippet of text which is associated with the corresponding URL.
What are the parts included in an URL?
A URL is actually made user-friendly, thus hiding a lot of complex parts behind it. However, on a typical URL, users can see these mandatory components:
- Protocol http:// or https://: This helps the web browser to know that a web address is expected to be entered. https is now more popular on the web, as it is a more secure version of http when search engine algorithms change. Aside from that, mailto: for email or ftp for file transfer are also protocols of an URL.
- Domain: This is the website’s name, which is in fact a user-friendly version of the Internet Protocol (IP) address.
- Subdomain: For the majority of websites, it is www. It helps to direct visitors to a specific web address in a hosting account.
- Path: This marks the ‘subfolder’ of the website if we consider the website as a big ‘folder’. It is often represented by/in the URL.
- Web page: This part is the last component in a URL, which indicates the specific page visitors are heading to. Very often, it is the filename of the page.
If we take https://www.connectpos.com/fashion-industry-after-covid-19/ as an example:
- Protocol – https://
- Domain – www.connectpos.com
- Path – /
- Web page – fashion-industry-after-covid-19
