What is a URL?

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a unique address that is used to locate webpages on the internet. Just as how you need an address to send a birthday card to; you also need an address to locate a file or to download music from the internet. An example of the URL for Debarn Foods website is https://debarnfoods.com/blog/article/url-slug

Where is the URL Located?

A URL is located at the top of your internet browser in the address bar. The address bar normally contains a closed padlock. It is colored in light-grey. When selected, a blinking insertion point will appear for you to type the name of the webpage address of where you want to visit.

Parts of a URL

1. Protocol
Hypertext Transfer Protocol or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It indicates that information transmitted over HTTPS is encrypted, secure and digitally signed. Most URL protocols are followed by a colon (:) and two forward slashes (//) that is used to separate the protocol from the remainder of the URL.


2. Subdomain
A subdomain is additional information added to the beginning of a website's domain name. The most common subdomain is World Wide Web (www). The www subdomain is normally included with the purchase of a domain name. for example: www.debarnfoods.com This portion of the URL is not required and can be left out.

One thing to note is that this portion is also used to separate a section of a site from its main website. Instead of using www dot the name of the website section is used. For example, recipe.debarnfoods.com

Domain Name

This is the website's name. for example: debarnfoods.com The domain name consists of two levels: second-level and top-level. The name that you give as the name for your website such as your business name is known as the second-level domain (SDL). Domain extensions such as .com, .org and .net are known as: top-level domain (TLD) and are attached to the end of a domain name.

Path

This is the folder structure or path to the specific resource on the website. In this example, the web page is two directories deep, therefore, the server must go to the blog folder in order to locate the articles folder and inside the articles folder is the file with the name, what-is-url.

Page name

This is the name of the specific page that you are requesting on the website. It is stored on the domain server and is displayed whenever it is requested. The file name is the last name in the URL. In this example, the file name is: what-is-url. This is the name of the webpage and is known as the slug .