What Is a URL? Full Form + 10 URL Examples

You type URLs, click them and share them dozens of times a day, but most people never stop to look at what's inside one. If you run a website, understanding URLs helps with SEO, tracking your marketing, and spotting links that aren't safe to click. Here's a clear breakdown without the jargon — including 10 URL examples you can scan at a glance.

Short answer: URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. In computer terms, it's the web address of one specific page, image or file, like https://www.nilesharma.space/blog. You'll find it in the address bar at the top of your browser, and on a phone you can copy it with the Share button. Looking for an example of a URL? Jump straight to the URL examples table below.

Quick answer: what is a URL?

A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the complete address of one specific thing on the internet, such as a web page, image or file. It tells your browser how to connect (the scheme), which server to contact (the domain) and exactly what to fetch (the path, plus any extra details).

Here's an example of a URL address, broken down into its parts:

https://www.example.com/blog/seo-tips?ref=home#checklist

Part	In this example	What it does
Scheme	https://	How to connect (encrypted HTTPS)
Subdomain	www	Optional section of the site
Domain name	example.com	Which website
Path	/blog/seo-tips	Which page on that website
Query string	?ref=home	Extra information for the page
Fragment	#checklist	Jumps to a section of the page

Want more? Jump to the URL examples below, or read on for each part in detail.

URL meaning and full form

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator, so if you're looking for the URL full form, that's it. It's the full address of a specific resource on the internet, such as a web page, an image, a PDF or a video.

A simple way to think about it: a domain is like the name of a building, and a URL is the full address down to the exact room. MDN's explanation of URLs is a good technical reference if you want to go deeper.

In plain words, each part of the name tells you what a URL does:

• Uniform: every URL follows the same standard format, so any browser or app can read it.
• Resource: the thing you want, such as a page, photo, video or document.
• Locator: it tells your device where that thing lives and how to get it.

The idea came from Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web, and URLs were first defined as an internet standard in 1994 (RFC 1738). The rules browsers follow today are kept in the WHATWG URL Standard.

Where is the URL located?

On a computer, the URL sits in the address bar at the top of your browser window (in Chrome it's combined with the search box). Click it once to select the full address. On a phone, tap the address bar in Safari or Chrome to see the full URL, since mobile browsers often shorten it to just the domain.

A URL example broken down

Here's a URL we'll take apart piece by piece:

https://www.example.com:443/blog/seo-tips?utm_source=newsletter#checklist

It looks long, but each part has a specific job. The next section walks through every piece in order.

Parts of a URL

1. Scheme (protocol): https://

This tells the browser how to talk to the server. https means the connection is encrypted, which protects what you send and receive. Plain http isn't encrypted, and modern browsers warn people about it. Every site should use HTTPS today. Other schemes you'll see include mailto: (opens email), tel: (starts a phone call) and ftp: (file transfer).

2. Subdomain: www

An optional section before the main domain. www is the most common, but businesses also use subdomains like blog., shop. or app. to separate parts of a site. shop.example.com and example.com can point to completely different apps.

3. Domain name: example.com

The human-readable name of the website. It's made of the name you register (example) and the top-level domain, or TLD (.com). Other TLDs include .in, .org and .space. Behind every domain is a numeric IP address that computers actually use to find the server.

4. Port: :443

The technical "door" on the server. You almost never see it, because browsers use 443 for HTTPS and 80 for HTTP by default. Developers often see ports like :3000 or :8080 when running a site locally.

5. Path: /blog/seo-tips

This points to the specific page or file on the site. Clean, readable paths help both visitors and search engines understand what a page is about. For example, this site uses /blog/cursor-pricing-2026 rather than a string of random numbers.

6. Query string: ?utm_source=newsletter

Starts with ? and passes extra information as key-value pairs. Several pairs are joined with &. Marketers use UTM parameters here to track where traffic came from, and online stores use queries for search terms and filters.

7. Fragment: #checklist

Starts with # and jumps to a section within the page. The browser handles it and doesn't send it to the server. (If a page keeps showing an old version after a URL change, your browser cache is usually the cause; here's how to clear cache on iPhone or Mac.)

URL examples

Here are 10 examples of a URL in real formats you'll come across every day — from everyday web pages to links that open your email or phone app. The example.com addresses are placeholders reserved for documentation, so they won't take you anywhere real. Use this table when someone asks for an example URL or URL examples.

#	Type	Example URL	Notes
1	Home page	https://www.nilesharma.space/	Scheme + subdomain + domain, root path /
2	Blog post / article	https://www.nilesharma.space/blog/what-is-a-url	Path points to one specific page
3	Search results	https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+a+url	Query string carries search terms; + stands in for spaces
4	Filtered shop page	https://shop.example.com/shoes?color=black&size=9	Several query pairs joined with &
5	Section (anchor)	https://www.nilesharma.space/blog/what-is-a-url#url-examples	# fragment jumps straight to this section
6	File download	https://www.example.com/files/annual-report.pdf	Path ends in a file name and extension
7	Email link	mailto:hello@example.com?subject=Hello	Opens your email app with address and subject filled in
8	Phone link	tel:+15555550123	On a phone, tapping it offers to call the number
9	FTP address	ftp://ftp.example.com/pub/readme.txt	Older file-transfer scheme, still used on some servers
10	Local development	http://localhost:3000/dashboard	localhost is your own computer; :3000 is the port

Two more you will see often:

11. IP-based address: http://192.168.1.1 — how many home routers open their settings page (that page is also one place to find your WiFi password).
12. API endpoint: https://api.example.com/v1/users/42 — a machine-readable path that apps call instead of a human-facing page. Our guide to what an API is explains those.

If a teacher, form or interview asks you to "give 10 examples of a URL," the table above covers the common types: web pages, search, files, mailto, tel, FTP and localhost.

Absolute vs relative URLs

Not every link you see in HTML is a full URL. Sites use two styles:

Absolute URL — the complete address, including the scheme and domain. It works no matter which page you're on.

https://www.nilesharma.space/blog/what-is-a-url

Relative URL — only the path (or a path relative to the current folder). The browser fills in the scheme and domain from the page you're already viewing.

/blog/what-is-a-url
../tools
./images/cover.webp

Relative URLs are handy inside a site because you can move the whole site to a new domain without rewriting every link. Absolute URLs are safer when you share a link in email, social media or documentation, because the recipient has no "current page" context. When in doubt for sharing, always copy the full absolute URL from the address bar.

URL encoding (why you see %20)

A URL can only safely use a limited set of characters: letters, digits and a few symbols like -, ., _ and ~. Spaces, accents and most punctuation have to be percent-encoded (also called URL encoding).

Common encodings you'll spot:

Character	Encoded form	Why
Space	%20 (or + in some query strings)	Spaces aren't allowed in URLs
/ (when it's data, not a path separator)	%2F	Slash normally splits path segments
?	%3F	Question mark normally starts the query
#	%23	Hash normally starts the fragment
&	%26	Ampersand normally joins query pairs
=	%3D	Equals normally separates key and value

So a search for "what is a url" often appears as ?q=what+is+a+url or ?q=what%20is%20a%20url. Browsers encode and decode this for you when you type or paste; you usually only notice it when you copy a long link from a search results page.

How to find the URL of a page (or "what is my URL?")

When a form asks for "your URL," it usually means the link to your website or your profile page — not a mysterious code. Here's how to copy one on phone and PC:

• Any website on a computer: click the address bar, press Ctrl + C (or Cmd + C on a Mac) and paste it wherever you need it.
• On a phone: in Safari or Chrome, tap the address bar and copy the address, or tap Share and choose Copy. Mobile browsers often hide the full path until you tap the bar.
• A YouTube video: tap or click Share under the video, then Copy link. You'll get a short link like https://youtu.be/ followed by the video's ID. YouTube's sharing help page also shows how to start the link at a set time.
• An Instagram post: tap the share (paper plane) icon or the three-dot menu and choose Copy link. Your profile URL is simply instagram.com/ followed by your username.
• Your LinkedIn profile: on a computer, click Me, open your profile, and look under Public profile & URL on the right. It starts with linkedin.com/in/, as LinkedIn's help page explains.
• Your own website: it's your domain with https:// in front, such as https://www.yourname.com.

If you're filling out a form that says "website URL" or "portfolio URL," paste the absolute link that opens your homepage or the exact page you want them to see.

What is a URL slug?

The slug is the readable part at the end of a URL that names one specific page. In https://www.nilesharma.space/blog/what-is-a-url, the slug is what-is-a-url. Good slugs are short, lowercase, use hyphens between words and describe the page, which helps people decide whether to click before they even open it. Most website builders and blogging tools create a slug from your page title and let you edit it.

A few slug habits that help:

• Prefer what-is-a-url over What_Is_A_URL or post123.
• Keep it under a few words when you can.
• Don't stuff every keyword into the slug — search engines care more about the page content than a long slug.

URL vs domain: what's the difference?

People mix these up all the time, so here's the short version:

Item	Domain	URL
What it is	The website's name	The full address of one specific resource
Example	nilesharma.space	https://www.nilesharma.space/blog
Includes	Name + TLD	Scheme, domain, path and sometimes query and fragment
How many per site	Usually one main domain	As many as there are pages and files

Every URL contains a domain, but a domain on its own isn't a complete URL.

Behind every domain is a numeric address that computers actually use to find the server. Our guide what is an IP address explains how that works.

URL vs URI

URI stands for Uniform Resource Identifier. It's the umbrella term for anything that identifies a resource. A URL is a URI that also tells you where to find it and how to access it (scheme + location). You may also hear about a URN (Uniform Resource Name), which names a resource without saying where it lives — like an ISBN for a book. In everyday web work, almost every "web address" people talk about is a URL, and calling it a URI isn't wrong, just broader.

URLs and SEO: practical tips

If you manage a site, a few URL habits go a long way:

• Keep paths short and descriptive. /blog/what-is-a-url beats /p?id=48213.
• Use hyphens between words, not underscores or spaces. Google's URL structure guidelines recommend hyphens.
• Use lowercase letters to avoid duplicate versions of the same page.
• Don't change URLs casually. If you must, set up a 301 redirect from the old address so you keep your traffic.
• Always use HTTPS.
• Prefer absolute URLs in sitemaps, canonical tags and social share links so crawlers and apps never guess the wrong host.

How to spot a suspicious URL

Look closely at the domain, just before the first single /. A link like paypal.com.secure-login.xyz actually belongs to secure-login.xyz, not PayPal. Misspellings, odd TLDs and long strings of random characters are all warning signs. Hover (or long-press) a link before you tap it, and check that the domain matches the brand you expect. When in doubt, type the site's address yourself instead of clicking.

Building your own site? See Next.js vs React for how each handles routing and URLs.

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