What Is a URL?
Every resource on the web — every webpage, image, video, and file — has a unique address called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator). URLs aren't random strings of characters. They're carefully structured addresses that contain everything your browser needs to find and retrieve specific content.
Think of a URL like a detailed street address. Just as "123 Main Street, Apartment 4B, New York, NY" tells a mail carrier exactly where to deliver a letter, a URL tells your browser exactly where to find something on the internet.
Breaking Down a URL
Let's examine the parts of a typical URL: https://www.example.com/products/shoes?color=red&size=10#reviews
Protocol (https://): This tells your browser how to communicate with the server. HTTPS means the connection will be encrypted and secure. You might also see http:// for unencrypted connections.
Domain (www.example.com): This identifies which server to contact. The DNS system translates this human-readable name into an IP address.
Path (/products/shoes): This specifies what resource you want on that server. Paths often mirror a folder structure, like navigating through directories on your computer.
Query Parameters (?color=red&size=10): These provide additional information for the request. The ? marks the start, and & separates multiple parameters. Servers use these to filter results, customize content, or track information.
Fragment (#reviews): This points to a specific section within the page. Fragments tell your browser to scroll to a particular spot after loading the content. They're handled entirely by the browser — the server never sees them.
Why Structure Matters
Understanding URL structure helps you navigate the web more effectively. You can often guess URLs for related pages, recognize suspicious links before clicking them, and understand what information you're sending to servers.
When you see ?utm_source=newsletter in a URL, for example, you'll know that's a tracking parameter telling the website where you came from. When you see a path like /api/v2/users, you'll recognize it as an API endpoint.
URLs are the addressing system of the web. Every link you click, every bookmark you save, and every page you share uses this same structured format to locate resources across millions of servers worldwide.