URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
Definition
A web address that specifies the location of a resource on the internet, including the protocol, domain name, path, and optional parameters.
A Uniform Resource Locator is the address used to access resources on the internet. A URL consists of several parts: the protocol (https://), the domain name (www.example.com), an optional port (:8080), the path (/page/resource), query parameters (?key=value), and a fragment (#section).
URLs must follow specific encoding rules. Special characters must be percent-encoded (spaces become %20, ampersands become %26). URL-safe characters include letters, digits, hyphens, underscores, periods, and tildes. Proper URL structure is important for SEO, user experience, and API design.
SEO-friendly URLs are descriptive, use hyphens to separate words, avoid unnecessary parameters, and include relevant keywords. Clean URL structures help search engines understand page content and improve click-through rates in search results. Canonical URLs prevent duplicate content issues when the same page is accessible through multiple URLs.
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Related Calculators
Related Terms
DNS (Domain Name System)
techThe internet's phone book that translates human-readable domain names like example.com into numerical IP addresses that computers use to communicate.
HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol)
techThe foundational protocol for data communication on the web, defining how messages are formatted and transmitted between clients and servers.
HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
techThe standard markup language for creating web pages, defining the structure and content of a page using elements represented by tags.
API (Application Programming Interface)
techA set of rules and protocols that allows different software applications to communicate with each other and share data or functionality.
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