What Is a Website URL? Important Parts Explained for Beginners

Hey there, WordPress beginner! 👋 When you‘re first getting started with creating a website, you‘ll quickly come across the term "URL". But what exactly is a URL, and how is it different from a domain name?

Don‘t worry – by the end of this guide, you‘ll be an expert on all things URL-related. We‘ll break down the anatomy of a URL into beginner-friendly terms and share practical tips you can apply to your own WordPress website. Let‘s dive in!

What Is a URL?

A URL, or Uniform Resource Locator, is essentially your website‘s address on the internet. Just like a GPS coordinate or a physical mailing address, a URL provides a specific location for a resource on the web.

Think of your website as a house 🏠 – your domain name would be like the street address that tells people where to find your house. But a URL is more than just your domain name; it includes other important details like the room, floor, or even a specific item in your house.

Here‘s a quick breakdown of a sample URL:

https://www.example.com/blog/sample-post

This URL is composed of several key parts:

• https:// = protocol
• www = subdomain
• example.com = domain name
• /blog/ = subdirectory or path
• /sample-post = path to a specific page

We‘ll explain what each of these mean in more detail below. But first, let‘s clear up a common point of confusion: the difference between a URL and a domain name.

URL vs. Domain Name

While the terms "URL" and "domain name" are often used interchangeably, they‘re not quite the same thing. Your domain name is one part of your URL – specifically, it‘s the human-readable web address that people type into a browser to access your site.

For example, wpbeginner.com is our domain name. But the full URL for our homepage is:

https://www.wpbeginner.com

A domain name is one part of a complete URL. Your full URL can include additional information like the protocol, subdomain, path, and more.

So in a nutshell:

• Domain name = your website‘s address (wpbeginner.com)
• URL = your domain name + other parts like protocol, path, etc. (https://www.wpbeginner.com/blog/)

Now that we‘ve got that out of the way, let‘s break down each part of a URL in more beginner-friendly terms.

The Anatomy of a URL

Here are the main parts that make up a URL, explained in plain English:

1. Protocol

The first part of a URL is the protocol – this tells browsers how data should be transmitted. The most common protocols you‘ll see are:

• http:// (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
• https:// (HTTP Secure)

HTTP is the default protocol for transferring data on the web. But these days, HTTPS is widely used by 70% of websites to enable secure, encrypted connections between a user‘s browser and the web server.

Benefits of using HTTPS vs. HTTP include:

• More security for your website and users
• Preserves referral data in Google Analytics
• Required for accepting payments or collecting sensitive info
• SEO boost – Google uses HTTPS as a positive ranking factor

If your website displays a "Not Secure" warning to users, it‘s because you‘re not using HTTPS. Fortunately, adding HTTPS to your WordPress site is easier than ever. Many web hosts now offer free SSL certificates, or you can follow this guide to install a free SSL certificate on any web host.

2. Subdomain (www)

After the protocol, some URLs include www or another subdomain. A subdomain lets you create a separate section of your website, without requiring a whole new domain name. Common subdomains include:

• www (default for websites)
• blog or shop (for subsites or eCommerce stores)
• support or docs (for documentation, FAQs, and help resources)
• app or tools (for SaaS or web apps)

For most WordPress websites, it‘s best to leave out www in your URLs. Using www or not is largely a matter of preference these days, but sticking to a single version helps avoid duplicate content issues and keeps your site consistent.

💡 Pro tip: You can configure your WordPress settings to automatically redirect all traffic to either the WWW or non-WWW version of your site for better SEO. We‘ll show you how in the optimization tips section below.

3. Domain Name

After the subdomain, the next part of a URL is your domain name. This is the unique name that identifies your website – ours is wpbeginner.com.

Your domain name is made up of your chosen name (e.g. "wpbeginner") plus a domain extension or top-level domain (TLD) like .com, .org, .blog and so on.

Choosing the right domain name is a crucial early decision when building your website or blog. Your domain name has a big impact on your branding, memorability, and SEO.

When choosing a domain name, keep these tips in mind:

• Aim for 6-14 characters (excluding TLD)
• Make it easy to spell and pronounce
• Avoid hyphens, numbers, and weird characters
• When in doubt, go with a .com domain
• Research the domain history for past penalties or spam
• Don‘t use trademarked names or phrases to avoid legal issues

🔎 Fun fact: As of August 2022, there are over 364 million registered domain names across all TLDs. Despite new domain extensions popping up all the time, .com is still the most popular TLD by far (52% market share), followed by .net (3.4%) and .org (3.2%). (Source)

Once you‘ve brainstormed some domain name ideas, it‘s time to register your domain. A domain registrar is a company that manages the reservation of domain names.

Popular domain registrars include:

Source: Registrar websites and WPBeginner‘s domain registrar reviews

When comparing domain registrars, look for providers that include free domain privacy, SSL certificates, and have a good reputation for uptime and customer support.

💰 Pro tip: Many WordPress hosting providers also include a free domain name with your hosting plan, which can save you from having to purchase one separately.

4. Path or Permalink

After your domain name, the next part of a URL is the path or permalink. This points to a specific page or resource on your site, like a blog post, landing page, or subfolder.

Permalinks play an important role in your WordPress SEO. That‘s because your URL path includes your post or page slug – the part that comes after your domain name.

Here‘s an example of a permalink with the slug at the end:

https://www.wpbeginner.com/showcase/wordpress-site-examples/

By default, WordPress generates long, number-based permalinks that don‘t mean anything to humans or search engines, like:

https://example.com/?p=12345

For better SEO, you should use descriptive, keyword-rich slugs. Your URL slug should give readers (and Google) an idea of what your page is about at a glance.

To change your WordPress permalink structure, go to Settings → Permalinks in your WordPress dashboard. Then select the "Post name" option, which automatically creates permalinks based on your post titles.

When writing a new post or page, you can customize the URL slug to be more concise or include your target keywords.

For more tips on optimizing your URL structure for SEO and users, check out our guide on how to create SEO-friendly URLs in WordPress.

5. URL Query and Fragment (Advanced)

After the path, your URL may contain some additional parameters like:

• URL query – extra details about a page, often used for tracking campaigns or search queries in WordPress. Starts with ? and uses key=value pairs. Example: https://example.com/store/?utm_source=twitter
• URL fragment – link to a specific part of a page, like a section heading. Starts with # and points to an HTML element ID. Example: https://example.com/post/#section-1

For most WordPress beginners, you don‘t need to worry too much about queries and fragments. But it‘s good to understand how they work, especially if you‘re digging into your analytics or want to add jump links to your content.

WordPress URL Best Practices & Optimization

Now that you understand all the parts of a URL, here are some tips to optimize your WordPress URL structure for search engines and users:

1. Use HTTPS for security & SEO 🔒
   • Get an SSL certificate (included free with many web hosts)
   • 301 redirect HTTP to HTTPS
   • Update internal links, page URLs, CDN URLs to use HTTPS
2. Set www or non-www preference 🌎
   • Choose one version to use consistently across your site
   • Set preferred domain in WordPress dashboard under Settings → General
   • Add canonical tags to avoid duplicate content penalties
3. Choose an SEO-friendly permalink structure 🔗
   • Select "Post name" permalink format for shorter, descriptive URLs
   • Customize post slugs to include primary keyword
   • Remove stop words like "a", "the", "of" for concise permalinks
4. Add breadcrumb navigation 🍞
   • Shows hierarchy of post location to users & search engines
   • Add breadcrumbs using Yoast SEO or Breadcrumb NavXT plugins
5. Standardize capitalization & trailing slash 🔠
   • Be consistent with capitalization (lowercase preferred for readability)
   • Avoid trailing slashes whenever possible (can create duplicate URLs)
   • Set up canonical tags or 301 redirects to preferred URL format

Key Takeaways & Next Steps

Congrats, you made it to the end! 🎉 Let‘s quickly recap what we‘ve learned about URLs:

• A URL is your website‘s full address on the internet
• URLs are made up of a protocol, subdomain, domain, path, and optional parameters
• Choosing the right domain name and URL structure is important for branding, SEO, and user experience
• Use HTTPS, SEO-friendly permalinks, and canonical tags to optimize your WordPress URLs

Now that you‘re an expert on all things URL-related, it‘s YOUR turn to put this knowledge into practice. Here are some action steps:

• [ ] Check if your website is using HTTPS (if not, migrate to SSL)
• [ ] Choose an SEO-friendly permalink structure
• [ ] Update your URLs to use consistent formatting and capitalization
• [ ] Add breadcrumbs and canonical tags to improve navigation and prevent duplicate content
• [ ] Analyze your web analytics to spot opportunities to optimize URL slugs for target keywords

If you want to learn more about WordPress SEO and performance, check out our complete guide on how to speed up your WordPress site or our list of best WordPress SEO plugins compared.

Still have questions about URLs or WordPress? Join the WPBeginner community on Facebook or Twitter for support and advice. We love to help new WordPress website owners like you master the basics and keep learning!