Every time we visit a website, we use a URL.
Every time we click on a website or get referred via a link, we use a URL.
You’ve probably heard the term URL before, but what exactly is it—and what does U-R-L actually stand for?
Let’s take a closer look!
URL – a technical abbreviation
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator.
In simple terms, it’s an address that points to a resource.
That resource could be a website, an email, a file, or something else located online.
Most people know a URL as a “web address” that takes them to the specific website—or even a subpage—they want to visit.
What makes up a URL?
A URL can be found at the top of your browser window. It consists of a few key elements that make it easier for both users and Google to identify and access a website.
Let’s use the following example URL to explain its structure:
https://www.example.com/url/
Protocol
The protocol is the first part of any URL.
In this case, it’s “https”, though you’ve likely also seen “http” used on other websites.
Regardless of the letters at the beginning, they indicate how the website’s content is fetched and which service is used to access it.
Subdomain
The subdomain can take various forms.
One of the most common is “www.”, which you can see in the example above.
Subdomains could also be “blog.”, “shop.”, “event.”—or practically anything else.
The purpose of a subdomain is to act as a separate section of the site, often indexed separately by Google.
Subdomains are great for organizing a site or managing different languages. For example, you might see “da.” or “es.” to represent different language versions.
Domain name
Following the subdomain is the domain name.
In our example, it’s “example”, which would be the name of the website.
TLD, ccTLD, or top-level domain
Next is the top-level domain—commonly known as TLD, or ccTLD if it’s country-specific.
This element indicates whether a site is using a generic or country-specific domain.
For example:
- “.dk” for Denmark
- “.se” for Sweden
- “.com”, “.net”, or “.org” for general or organizational use
Page path
The final element in our example is the page path: “/url/”.
This describes the specific subpage within the website being accessed.
If a path includes multiple words, they are usually separated by hyphens (-), like this:
https://www.example.com/email-marketing/
If it’s a subpage of a subpage, the segments are separated by slashes (/), which is often seen in online stores with category and product pages.
There are certainly longer and more complex URLs than this, but for simplicity, we’re focusing on the basics here.
Can you create a good URL?
Yes, absolutely!
A well-crafted URL contributes to a clear and user-friendly site structure, which benefits both your visitors and search engines like Google.
A clear URL helps both users and Google understand what the page is about, improves indexing, and increases the likelihood of ranking well in search results.
URL structure
Now we’re getting into what’s known as URL structure—how URLs are organized on a website.
This structure is often based on selected paths that act as categories for the site’s subpages.
For instance, if you publish blog posts on your site, you might use a path like /blog/, followed by the article title, such as:
/blog/guide-to-facebook-marketing/
The path /blog/ now works as a category and can be reused for future blog posts.
URL structuring is part of SEO best practices. It helps improve your site’s visibility and relevance to search engines.
The more specific and concise your URLs are—and the better structured your site is—the higher your chances of ranking well.
- Avoid or replace special characters that don’t work internationally. In Denmark these characters won’t work: “æ”, “ø”, “å”.
- Include relevant keywords that describe the page’s content.
- Keep URLs short and to the point. This improves usability, simplifies indexing, and increases your site’s visibility.
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