What is URL: definition and meaning

What is URL: definition and meaning of one of the essential elements for the normal functioning of a website.

As soon as you have to open a website, be it a blog or a platform to promote your company, you will inevitably come into contact with a series of IT terminologies that you will have already heard of, but which you are not entirely familiar with. The URL certainly figures among them.

But what is the URL? Why does it play such an important role in the functioning of a site? Let's find out together.

What does URL mean: characteristics and definition

The URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a string of characters that uniquely identifies an online resource, a path that indicates the position of a certain content on the web. For this reason, each page has its own URL address, which allows users to find it easily and access it quickly and directly. It can therefore be used to indicate the position of a document or file, but also of an image, a video or any other content available on the world wide web. It consists of three specific elements:

1. the protocol used to access the resource
2. the address of the server on which the resource is located
3. the directory of the resource itself on the server

The protocol indicates how the document is retrieved and then used to access the resource. The most common ones are HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) and HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure). The server name instead indicates the address of the server on which the requested resource is located. For example, www.example.com could be the server name for a particular website (or in our case www.soccorsowp.it). Finally we have the directory is the internal structure of the site that allows you to reach the document, the part that indicates the location of the resource on the server. For example, /index.html could be the path to the home page of a website (e.g. www.soccorsowpit/blog)

An important element for creating your website

The importance of the URL is essential, since it allows you to locate a resource in a unique way, allowing you to create links between different web pages. Furthermore, it is often used by search engines for index web pages and to determine its positioning in the SERP results.

It is therefore a fundamental element of every website and, together with the domain, contributes to making it unique and recognisable. Of no small importance also to fini SEO. In fact, it must be short and easy to remember, concisely describe the focus of your business on the web (containing the appropriate keywords), but above all not be already used by other sites.
Also, it's important to make sure the URL is compatible with all browsers and devices.

How to change a website URL?

The URL can be changed in different ways depending on the type of website and server settings. If you have a hosting account, you can make the change via account control panel. Inoltre, molti CMS (Content Management System) offrono la possibilità di modificarlo attraverso l’interfaccia di amministrazione. Se si utilizza WordPress, si può fare nelle impostazioni generali del sito.

In some cases, you may need to do something manually, such as when you move your site to a new server or when you change your domain name. In these cases, you need to edit your site's .htaccess file so that requests are redirected to the new URL.

What is URL, conclusion

We have seen what the URL is, a unique identifier for a resource on the Internet used to reach the resource directly, in order to allow users to find information easily that they are looking for.

As previously mentioned it can have an impact on site traffic, being the first thing users see when they search for a website. In fact, since URLs form the basis for web browsing, it is essential that they are written correctly clear and intuitive. Unfortunately, this does not always happen, as they are often long and difficult to understand, and contain, among other things, strange characters and numbers.

It is therefore essential to ensure that it is clear and descriptive so as not to lose visitors. This is why a consultation with our web agency can accelerate your growth process, helping you choose an appropriate URL for your business.