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Scheme (https://)
The scheme tells your server which protocol to use when accessing a page. Generally, this will be HTTP or HTTPS but can also be many other schemes such as ftp://, mailto://, or file://.
Subdomain
A subdomain is a part of your main domain and an easy way to break your site up into sections or groups of content. While you may have your main domain house general information, you can use a subdomain such as store.mywebsite.com, or blog.mywebsite.com to section off specific pieces of your website.
Domain or Second-Level Domain
Plain and simple – This is the name of your website. When someone visits your domain, they know exactly what website they are on without any more information.
Top Level Domain
Your top-level domain (TLD) is a way you register your domain name. Statista.com reports that as of June 2023, the 5 most used top-level domains were the following:
- .com (47.8%)
- .org (4.7%)
- .ru (3.7%)
- .net (2.9%)
- .de (2.6%)
Port Number
While not normally visible or required when browsing the internet, a port number is used to establish an endpoint with the server to download the appropriate data. For example, HTTP servers use port 80, while HTTPS servers use port 443.
Path
The path designates the file or resource you wish to view on the server. This is mostly used to view a page or file on a website. When visiting mywebsite.com/cars, you are viewing the Car page also known as the server path of “cars”.
Query String/Parameter(s)
Query Parameters are an extension of the URL that allows additional information and data to be passed and then used by your website. A lot of time this is used for searching, or filtering information on the page based on the parameters. In our example, if you were to visit the URL mywebsite.com/cars, it may show a list of hundreds of cars from around the world, but by adding a parameter for “brand” it can then use that to filter out the unwanted information, leaving your with only “Jeep” brand cars which is the Query defined in the URL.
You can have multiple Query Parameters by adding an “&” between them such as mywebsite.com/cars?brand=jeep&color=red.
Fragment
Another optional part of the URL, which is typically at the very end of the URL, begins with a hash (#). This indicated a specific ID or section of a webpage that you want to access/scroll to. Ever click a button and it scrolls you down the page to a specific section? This is likely using a fragment hash, so next time see if your URL updated to include it.
Many Parts to A Simple URL
Every webpage has a URL. This simple yet complex thing often gets overlooked but is essential to both making your website work and your visitor’s user experience. Next time you are visiting different websites, look at the URL and see how it works and/or changes while you’re interacting with the site.
Need help with your domain or website? Give AG Marketing Solutions a call at 610-337-8484 or email us at info@agmsolutions.com.
