Uniform Resource Locator

A Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is a standardized string of characters used to uniquely identify and locate resources on the Internet. It is a special form of the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) and is commonly understood as the “address” of a web page.

An example of a URL is:
https://www.tup.com

This address refers to the home page of this website (of the company TUP Warehouse Management Solutions) and contains several components:

  • Protocol: https– specifies which transmission protocol is used. These are often http or https (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure; secure connection).
  • Domain name: www.tup.com– describes the server on which the resource is located.
    • Subdomain: www– stands for “World Wide Web” and usually refers to the main version of the website.
    • Domain name: tup– is the unique name of the website within the top-level domain.
    • Top-level domain (TLD): .com– is one of the best-known generic TLDs and originally stood for “commercial,” but is now used worldwide.
  • Optionally, a URL can be supplemented by a path, parameters, or anchors. These follow the domain name and refer to specific content or functions on the page, e.g., https://www.tup.com/en/logistics-services/software-consulting/.

Uniform Resource Locators are used to directly access web pages, images, videos, files, and many other types of content on the Internet. They are an integral part of web architecture and make surfing and navigating the Internet possible in the first place.

In today’s digital communication, URLs also play a central role in areas such as email, QR codes, social media, and web applications. They can be entered manually or generated automatically by systems.