What is a URL?

Have you ever heard the word URL? Everyone should already know what URL is because of the terms that are often found when you are surfing the internet. But the fact is there are still many internet users who don’t know what a URL is.

If an internet user opens a search engine to find information, he will be asked to enter the URL name on the search engine. Many people who use the internet every day are confused when asked what a URL is.

There are still many people who think that URL is a website address or domain name. To answer what a URL is, this time an article about URLs will be presented. Let’s start the discussion!

URL Definition

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator, this is related to certain characters usually consisting of numbers, letters and symbols that lead to the www address (World Wide Web). Then is the URL the same as the domain?

Simply put, if the website is a house. So a house must have an address and an address in the internet world is called a URL. While the domain is one component of the address. So obviously the  URL is different from the domain .

URL is usually used to identify the  location of a file on the internet . Not only to go to a site, URLs can be used to download images, videos, hypertext and so on.

What is URL function?

Then what is the function of this URL? URL (Uniform Resource Locator) has an important role in the internet world. Users can use the URL to access certain information they want to know. Here are some other URL functions that you should know:

  1. With a URL you can recognize documents on the website.
  2. It is possible to name documents on the website.
  3. Make it easy for internet users to access files so they don’t get the wrong address.
  4. Help identify files of any format.

URL type

After knowing the meaning and function of URLs, it should be noted that URLs have several types because this is very important for users in finding a document storage location.

What is a URL?

a. Absolute URL

Absolute URL is a URL whose address is accompanied by the domain and location of the document. This means that every page in a domain contains a directory containing files.

Example of an Absolute URL:

http://www.matob.com/images/image.jpg

b. Relative URL

In Relative URL address determination is based on the current address at that time. The structure is not standard and only refers to the document currently being opened.

Example of URL Address

As explained about URL, if you are still confused, here is an example URL and an explanation.

Example of URL address:

https://matob.web.id/random/software/fastest-and-lightweight-linux-distro-for-old-computer/

You need to know that https is a protocol that has a website on the internet. Then www is the hostname to identify useful sources of sites on the internet. Then matob.web.id  is the main domain name of a website.

https://matob.web.id/random/software/fastest-and-lightweight-linux-distro-for-old-computer/  is the name of the file that you access by internet users which is called a URL.

As an internet user, of course, it is important to know what a URL is. So you don’t need to be confused when you want to identify a file on the internet. By remembering the URL name, it can help you to find the information you need on the internet. Imagine if you don’t know the URL of a site you want to open, you are required to enter the IP address which consists of a row of numbers.