What exactly is the URL? A Uniform Resource Locator, abbreviated as a URL, is basically a way of referencing a particular web site and a mechanism for getting it on a browser’s computer system. A URL is simply a special kind of Uniform Resource Identifier, but most folks use both terms interchangeably.
The truth is, URL and Uniform Resource Locator are really just one in the same thing; both terms describe the same mechanism for obtaining information on a particular web page. Understanding the URL, though, may help you learn more about Uniform Resource Locator and perhaps even save yourself some money in the future!
If you’ve been online for any length of time, you’ve probably come across the term URL or, more likely, a URL query bar. These tools often appear right next to a domain name or on the homepage. In addition to displaying the name of the website that you’re trying to get to, they allow you to specify various meta-information about the page. This includes such things as the page’s category, description, and keywords (if you have keywords enabled). You can enter as many URLs as you’d like, together with any extra info you’d like.
In the world of web development, however, the URL isn’t entirely related to the world wide web at all – it actually refers to the way that web pages are submitted to the search engines. Typically, this happens via the query strings entered into the pagerank field of every search engine. For example, if someone searches for videos on YouTube, a URL for the specific video will be included in the search results list. And when someone clicks on that link, it takes them directly to the video that they were looking for!
So, what exactly is the URL? Essentially, URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. The term was popularized by Tim Berners-Lee in his book, The World Wide Web. Basically, it’s the address bar that your computer uses to find a particular web page. The web site address typically consists of three-letter string of characters. The numbers and letters can be any alphanumeric, numeric, or symbols, though typically, they’re arranged in the format used for the URL in the computer world.
The major difference between an HTTP and URL, then, is that an HTTP is used to forward requests for data from a client machine and a URL is used to identify a web page on the internet. In other words, an HTTP is used to request information from a remote server and a URL is used to identify a local server. The HTTP spec states that the client should provide a domain name, which is the numerical address of the server, and a port number, which identifies the port number on the machine that will handle the actual request. Once the client has these two pieces of information, it sends the request to the server. The server responds by sending back an HTTP response code, which typically consists of one or more pieces of text usually denoting the nature of the response such as a status code, an acknowledgment message, or an error message.
When discussing URLs, the most common use is to refer to websites via an HTTP protocol rather than a hypertext transfer protocol. Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) is the protocol that was commonly used to communicate information over internet connections before HTTP was developed. Hypertext transfer protocol is not compatible with HTTP, however, and therefore many websites still talk to each other over the internet using HTTP.
The most widely used method of obtaining a URL is to type it into a search engine and follow the rest of the online instructions. You may also see a blue URL address bar while you are browsing the web. This blue URL address bar, sometimes called the Google Chrome logo, is often used to show the latest information about a particular web page or the URL itself. The origin of the blue URL address bar can be traced back to the introduction of the hypertext transfer protocol (STD), which is a form of computer language designed to specify how web pages are connected and stored on servers.
The major purpose of redirects is to serve as one of the ways in which Google Chrome serves up search results based on keywords entered into the search bar. To see how this works, log into your google chrome search account and visit one of the links on the search results page. You will be shown a list of links to click on, and when you do, you will be taken to the new page, which will typically be one of the sponsored links that Google uses as part of their SEO strategy.