What is a URL, what is it for, and what do its initials mean on computers and web pages?

Often times when we read an article on the web they suggest that we can expand the information or find out what is the source from which they got the data. This link is usually displayed in blue letters (be careful that a hand appears automatically with the index pointing upwards).

Sometimes the only thing we can figure out is the first part, which contains the name of a website that continues with a slash and the combination we mentioned earlier.

It is nothing more than a "URL" , this acronym refers to English words U uniform R esource L ocator, which, translated into Spanish, would be " Uniform resource locator «. In this article, we will show you everything you need to know about the different URLs of computers and web pages so that you have no doubts or fears while clicking on these links.

How are URLs categorized and how is each different?

First of all, we need to differentiate a URL from a URI (it is the acronym of U uniform R esource I dentifier, Unique Resource Identifier in Spanish). Without going into details, a URI contains a URL but never the other way around. The URL can change while a URI never changes. Sometimes a URL is a URI.

Many people confuse these terms and like we want to inform you correctly so that you do not have any problems in the future when working with these issues.

Having clarified this point, we can say that a URL is divided into two main groups:

Semantic url

It is these links in which they have a assigned format much easier to understand with a simple reading . This is used to see the location of a particular page on the website.

They are also called Friendly URLs , because what is wanted is that the user can easily remember the URL, thus removing numbers, signs and other characters.

Non-semantic url

This resource locator does not have simple logic in its reading and reflects the specific address where it reflects where you can find, on a website, the article related to the location of this type of information. This is not highly recommended for SEO because Google rewards friendly URLs.

What are the parts or elements of a “uniform resource locator”? Examples

In the uniform resource locator, there are, like everything in computer science, its well-defined and detailed parts . Each serves an important function in a scheme in which you cannot derive anything from that structure since each of these parts connects to the next.

Then we will detail what each of these sections are in the structure and we'll name them in the order they appear in a URL:

HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol)

Between the server where the website we want to see is hosted and the browser we have, there is a communication protocol in which the rules are defined so that our browser and this server can communicate effectively with each other.

You may have noticed that in some URLs, “https” appears, meaning that an “s” is added at the end. This means that the protocol with which we work is secure .

Two points

The colon is a way to separate the communication protocol from the rest of the web address.

Bars tilted to the right

It is necessary to specify that both bars must be tilted to the right (//) because if they were in the other direction, they would not work and a communication between the browser and the server would not be found. They are used to indicate the address at which we want the server to contact our computer.

Subdomain

Most common among the sub - domains is the " www "( W orld W ide W eb), it is a set of protocols that are used for organization at within the computer system. There are addresses in which this subdomain does not appear, which does not generate any problem when communicating with the server.

Index.html

Now is the time to tell the server the file we want to see or with which one we want interact (this is generally referred to as the domain of the web page). It can also be written as " default.html " or " index.htm «.

Its TLD extension is the last part of the domain, and what it shows us is what kind of URL it is. To give a few examples, there are generic top level extensions such as " .com " or " .net ", You can find geographic extensions" .es "(From Spain) or" ru "(From Russia), or related to education" . education «.

Directory or folder

This part of a URL is used to tell the server which part of the page we want to have on our screens.

Path, also called page

This is the file we want to see inside the server. It's the same as with Windows or some other folder-based system.

TAGS

It is linked to the symbol " # And is used to give a specific command in the directory page that we asked the server to see.

We hope this article has helped you and don't hesitate when you see those sentences in blue that seem out of context from what we read

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments, we will get back to you as soon as possible, and it will be a great help for more community members as well. Thank you!