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The following URLs have several different elements you might encounter in web addresses — protocols, domains, subdomains, TLDS, paths, and named anchors.
Most of the time, you don’t need to know about all these different parts of a web address — you just click on a link or type in an address and everything is fine. But — like knowing which part of a phone number is the “area code” — it helps to understand what all these different components are.
Contents
- 1 Example 1:https://websitebuilders.com
- 2 Example 2: https://www.facebook.com/Learn-the-Net-330002341216/
- 3 Example 3: ftp://aeneas.mit.edu/
- 4 Example 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet#Terminology
Example 1:https://websitebuilders.com
This is the URL for the home page of this web site. Let’s take a look at the different parts of the URL:
- The protocol is
http. - The TLD, or Top Level Domain, is
.com, indicating that it is probably a commercial site. - The domain name is
learnthenet.com, which gives you some sense of what the site is all about (learning about the internet). - The subdomain is
www, which stands for World Wide Web. Newer sites don’t usually use this, but many sites that have been around for a long time still do. It indicates that the content at this address is for public viewing. - There is not a slash (
/ ) and additional text after the domain name, so this is the home, or index, page for this domain.
Example 2: https://www.facebook.com/Learn-the-Net-330002341216/
This is the the URL for Learn the Net’s Facebook page(which you should definitely visit and “Like”).
- The protocol is
https. Facebook uses HTTPS (the secure version of HTTP) because you have to be logged-in to use it, and because they store and use a lot of your personal data and information. - The TLD is
.com, indicating that Facebook is probably a commercial site (it is). - The domain name is
facebook.com. - They are using the
www subdomain. Probably for usability reasons (some people still expect all domains names to begin with www, even though it isn’t necessary). - The path is
Learn-the-Net-330002341216, which identifies a specific resource (our page) on their server.
Example 3: ftp://aeneas.mit.edu/
This URL is for an FTP server at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
- The protocol is
ftp, or File Transfer Protocol. This is not used for interacting with a document in a browser, but rather for uploading and downloading files. - The TLD is
.edu, indicating that the site is run by a college or university. - The domain name is
mit.edu, indicating it is owned or controlled by MIT. There is a connection between this domain and the contents atmit.edu. - The subdomain is
aeneas. - The hostname is
aeneas.mit.edu - There is no path, so this is the index for the file system.
Example 4: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet#Terminology
This URL is for the section titled “Terminology,” in the “Internet” article on Wikipedia.
- The protocol is
https. - The TLD is
.org, indicating that the domain is probably run by a non-profit organization. (That is not always true, but in this case it is.) - The domain name is
wikipedia.org. - The subdomain is
en. Wikipedia uses language-code subdomains. This URL is for an English-language article. - The path is
/wiki/Internet. This identifies the specific resource (the wiki article on the Internet) on Wikipedia’s server. - This URL has a named anchor,
#Terminology. This indicates that the URL is not just for a specific document, but for a specific place within that document. IF you followed this link, the page would be scrolled down to the “Terminology” section, rather than the top of the page.
FAQs
A Uniform Resource Locator, or URL is the address of a specific location on the web. As explained by the Computer Security Resource Center, a URL is a reference to a web resource that specifies its location on a computer network and a mechanism for retrieving it.
What is the URL Uniform Resource Locator of a website? ›
A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of a unique resource on the internet. It is one of the key mechanisms used by browsers to retrieve published resources, such as HTML pages, CSS documents, images, and so on. In theory, each valid URL points to a unique resource.
What is a URL with an example? ›
URL is an acronym for Uniform Resource Locator and is a reference (an address) to a resource on the Internet. A URL has two main components: Protocol identifier: For the URL http://example.com , the protocol identifier is http . Resource name: For the URL http://example.com , the resource name is example.com .
What is the URL of your site example? ›
Most web browsers display the URL of a web page above the page in an address bar. A typical URL could have the form http://www.example.com/index.html , which indicates a protocol ( http ), a hostname ( www.example.com ), and a file name ( index. html ).
What is a UTM tracking URL? ›
A UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) code is a snippet of text added to the end of a URL to track the metrics and performance of a specific digital marketing campaign. UTM codes can contain up to five parameters: Campaign, source, medium, content, and term.
What is a URL tracking code? ›
As part of endeavors to know where traffic to a website is coming from, tracking URLs have become an effective way of revealing all the information needed. A tracking URL is a unique link that is created for the specific purpose of tracing where your visitors are coming from.
What is an example of a URL path? ›
A path is the unique, last part of the URL for a specific function or piece of content. For example, for a page whose full URL is http://example.com/node/7, the path is node/7.
What is my URL? ›
The URL is found on the top bar of a web browser called the address bar. This web browser is displaying a website URL in the top address bar.
What are the 4 components of a URL? ›
Components of a URL
The four main components of URLs are the protocol, domain, path, and query.
What is an example of a URL source? ›
UTM Source: The individual site within that channel. For example, Facebook would be one of the sources within your Social medium for any unpaid links that you post to Facebook. If you're running a Facebook ad or spending money to promote a link, you'd want to label Facebook as a source within Paid.
This is achieved by using a redirect which links to the web page that has a long URL. For example, the URL "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_shortening" can be shortened to " https://w.wiki/U". Often the redirect domain name is shorter than the original one.
What is a simple URL? ›
Simple URLs is a free link management tool that allows you to cloak links and create product displays. It's designed to help you increase your affiliate revenue so you can scale your niche site faster.
What does a Uniform Resource Locator do? ›
What is a URL (Uniform Resource Locator)? A URL (Uniform Resource Locator, also called a web address) is a unique identifier used to locate a resource on the internet. URLs consist of multiple parts -- including a protocol and domain name -- that tell web browsers how and where to retrieve a resource.
What is a URL short answer? ›
A URL, short for a uniform resource locator serves as a web address that guides users to specific resources on the internet, including domain names, paths, and protocol identifiers.
Why is the URL important? ›
URLs are important for two main reasons: firstly, because they help us organise and find things on the internet; secondly, because they define the URL structure of a website. And having a good URL structure is important to make sure users can easily navigate your site, and for ranking well in search engines.
Which URL is an absolute Uniform Resource Locator? ›
An absolute Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a URL that: includes the full path from the system root to a specific page or resource.
What is the use of Uniform Resource Locator URL in HTML? ›
A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is used to address a document (or other data) on the web. Explanation: scheme - defines the type of Internet service (most common is http or https) prefix - defines a domain prefix (default for http is www)
What is the resource ID in a URL? ›
A resource ID is the portion of the resource address/URL that comes after the resource type. For example, the resource Patient/123 has the ID of 123. This ID should be treated like a database primary key: it is an internal identifier that will not change.
Which best describes a URL or Uniform Resource Locator? ›
A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a reference or address that is used to locate and access resources on the internet. It serves as a way to identify and interpret web addresses, allowing users to navigate and access specific webpages or files.
