SEO glossary · U

Uniform Resource Locator (URL)

What is a URL? Definition and Meaning

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the address of a resource on the web, such as a page, an image or a file. It tells the browser which protocol to use, which server to contact and which resource to fetch. URL meaning in one line: the address that locates a resource on the internet. It is sometimes written “universal resource locator”, but the correct name is Uniform Resource Locator. The location part of a URL identifies the server and the path to the resource, for example the domain name and the page path.

The parts of a URL

Take https://www.example.com/services/seo/?utm_source=newsletter#pricing:

  • Protocol (scheme): https, the secure version of HTTP.
  • Subdomain: www.
  • Domain name: example.com, made up of the name and the top-level domain (.com).
  • Path: /services/seo/, the page on the site.
  • Query string: ?utm_source=newsletter, parameters used for tracking, filters or searches.
  • Fragment: #pricing, a section of the page. Browsers don’t send it to the server.

SEO-friendly URLs

  • Short, readable and descriptive: /services/local-seo/ rather than /?p=123.
  • Lowercase words separated by hyphens.
  • One URL per page: redirect or canonicalize duplicates, such as www and non-www or HTTP and HTTPS.
  • Stable: changing URLs loses links and rankings unless you add 301 redirects.
  • Few parameters on pages you want indexed.

The words in a URL are only a very small ranking factor, but a clear URL helps people decide to click and shows where a page sits on the site.

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