What Is A URL (Uniform Resource Locator)

Overview of a URL

Below is additional information about each section of the HTTP URL for this page.

http:// or https://

Hypertext Transfer Protocol is what the “HTTP” stands for. It tells the browser which protocol it will use to get to the information in the domain. The name “HTTPS” stands for “Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure,” which means that information sent over HTTPS is encrypted and safe. The colon (:) and two forward slashes (//) come after HTTP or HTTPS and separate the protocol from the rest of the URL.

Tip

A URL is not limited to HTTP or HTTPS addresses. FTP, TFTP, Telnet, and other addresses are also URLs, but they may not use the same syntax as our example.

www.

Next, “www,” which stands for “World Wide Web,” is used to tell the content apart. This part of the URL is not needed, so it can often be left out. For example, you could still go to the Computer Hope site by typing “http://computerhope.com.” The address part can also be changed to a subdomain, which is a very important sub-page.

download.zone

The domain name for the site is “download.zone” The domain suffix, also called the TLD, is the last part of the domain. It is used to tell what kind of website it is or where it is. “.com” stands for “commercial,” “.org” stands for “organization,” and “.co.uk” stands for “United Kingdom.” There are many domain suffixes to choose from. A domain registrar is where you register a name to get a domain.

/jargon/u/

Next, “jargon” and “u” are directories on the server where the web page is. In this case, the web page is in the second directory. The file would be in the /public html/jargon/u directory on the server. Most servers’ HTML files are stored in the public html directory by default.

url.htm

url.htm is the actual page you’re looking at on the domain you’re on. The.htm at the end of a web page’s file name tells you that the file is an HTML file. On the Internet, other common file extensions are.html,.php,.asp,.cgi,.xml,.jpg, and.gif. Like the different types of files on your computer, each of these file extensions does something different.

Tip

As you may have noticed, the protocol, domain, directories, and files are separated by forward slashes ( / ).

Where is the URL located?

Most of the time, a URL is in the address bar or omnibox at the top of the browser window. On desktop computers and laptops, the URL is always visible unless your browser is set to “fullscreen.” Most browsers for smartphones and tablets hide the address bar with the URL when you scroll down, leaving only the domain. If you can’t see the address bar, scroll up the page. If only the domain is shown, tapping the address bar shows the full address.

Tip

Most video-sharing pages, such as YouTube, also have sharing links below the video or in the video. Using these sharing links is another way to get the URL of the video.

How to open a URL

When you click on a link, you can open a URL. For example, if you click on the word “hyperlink” in this paragraph, a page about hyperlinks will open.

If a URL is in a printed piece that isn’t a link, like an email or magazine, you can open the page by typing the URL into the address bar of your browser. If the URL is in an email, you can also copy and paste it into the address bar of your browser.

Tip

Some printed material may also have a QR code to scan to open a web page with your smartphone.

How can I create my own URL?

Many social networking sites like Instagram and shopping sites like Etsy let you make your own directories that link to your page. For example, “facebook.com/computerhope” is the address of the Computer Hope Facebook page. But this URL is not a full URL; it is a section of the site that is just for your user profile.

You need to get a custom domain from a domain name registrar in order to make a fully unique URL like “computerhope.com.” You can buy domain names from these companies, and you can link them to your website(s) or send them to any other web page you want.

Most of the time, you have to renew your domain every year. Domains are priced based on how well they sell and how they have been used in the past. The price is also affected by the end of the domain name, such as.com,.net, or.org. Once you buy a domain name, you can move it to another registrar or link it to another website as long as you own it.

Popular domain name registrars include:

1. Google Domains
2. GoDaddy
3. Namecheap
4. CloudFlare

You can also buy custom domain names through website builders like Wix, Weebly, and Squarespace, which are automatically linked to your custom website.

What characters are not allowed in a URL?

Most people know that you can’t have spaces in a URL. But it’s also important to know that, according to RFC 1738, the URL string can only have letters, numbers, and the characters!$- +*'(),. Any other characters in the URL that are needed must be encoded.

Understanding more complex URLs and parameters

When a URL points to a script that does more than one thing, the URL gets extra information (called “parameters”) at the end. For example, a search engine URL that leads to a page with search results has a parameter with the words of the search query.

Here’s an example of a URL that goes to the download.zone search page and uses “example search” as the search query parameter.

https://www.download.zone.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=example%20search

The script file that this URL points to is search.cgi, which is in the cgi-bin directory. Since this file’s name ends in.cgi, it is likely a Perl script.

After the name of the script file is a? (question mark). The question mark in a URL separates the URL from all the parameters or variables that are sent to the script. In the example given above, the parameter is q=example%20search. “q” is the name of a variable, and “example%20search” is the variable’s value. Since URLs don’t allow spaces, the space is written as %20. In many scripts, a + is also used to show a space between words.

In our case, because there is a variable, the script would use it as it ran. Scripts can have more than one variable, too. If the script needs more than one variable, you can put an ampersand (&) between each variable, as shown in the example below.

https://www.download.zone/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=example%20search&example=test

In the above example, there are two different things that can change. “q” is the same as “example search,” and “example” is the same as “test.” If the script looked for an example variable, it could be used to do something else.

Is an IP address the same as a URL or web address?

No. Every device on a network is given a unique number called an IP address. On the World Wide Web, each domain name has its own IP address. When you type a domain name, like “download.zone,” DNS turns it into an IP address that routers use to find the web server. Instead of an IP address, a domain name is used because it is easier for people to remember. For instance, it’s easier to remember “abc.com” than “216.58.216.164” as an IP address. Check out our IP address to learn more about an IP.

Tip

You could compare a domain name to a picture of a house and an IP address to the address of the house. You can tell what the house looks like from the picture, but you’d never be able to find it without the address.