You know how many times a day you copy links, send them to friends or colleagues? How many times you click addresses in browser? We do this automatically, without even thinking. But it's worth looking at that string at top of browser more carefully.
Especially if you have a website or plan to launch one. Because URL is not just "address on internet". How you organize them affects many things: whether Google will find you, whether people will click your links, how convenient your site will be to use.
Let's figure it out without fluff.
URL - What Is It Anyway?
In short—it's complete address of any page or file on internet. URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. Sounds strange in literal translation, but meaning is simple.
Works like postal address. Only instead of country, city and street you have protocol, domain and path to page. Browser reads this address and understands: okay, I need to connect to this server, request this specific page.
You enter https://the.hosting/vps - browser connects to the.hosting server via secure connection and shows you VPS page. That's it.
How URL Differs from Domain?
Many confuse them. Domain is like your house name on internet. the.hosting is domain. It's registered, you pay for it every year.
And URL is already specific address with apartment number, floor and everything else.
Look:
- Domain: the.hosting
- URL: https://www.the.hosting/blog/vps-setup?lang=en#step2
Feel the difference? One domain, but can be countless URLs—by number of pages, images, files on site.
What URL Consists Of
Let's take some hypothetically possible address and break it down into parts.
Example:
https://blog.the.hosting/guides/server-config?ref=newsletter#security
(non-working link, serves as specific example)
Protocol - These Letters at Beginning
https:// - first thing you see. This is data transfer protocol.
Used to be HTTP, now almost everywhere HTTPS. Difference is critical—letter S means "secure", i.e. protected connection. All data between you and server is encrypted.
In 2024, if you still have HTTP—it's really a problem. Google lowers in search results, browsers show scary warnings "connection not secure". Users leave.
There are other protocols like FTP (for files) or mailto (for email), but for regular websites you only need HTTPS.
Subdomain - Optional Part
blog in our example is subdomain. Goes before main domain.
Most famous subdomain is "www". Seen these three letters everywhere? Actually they're not mandatory, just habit from 90s. Technically www.the.hosting and the.hosting can be same site.
Subdomains are convenient when you want to separate project parts:
- blog.the.hosting - blog
- my.the.hosting - personal cabinet
- docs.the.hosting - documentation
But there's a nuance. Google perceives subdomains as separate sites. Links between them don't transfer weight as well as within one domain. So think twice—maybe better to make the.hosting/blog instead of blog.the.hosting?
Domain Name - Foundation
the.hosting - here's your domain. Consists of two parts: name (the) and zone (.hosting).
Choosing domain is whole art. It should be short, easy to pronounce, memorable. And ideally reflect essence of what you do.
Zone also matters. .com is classic, but expensive and almost everything taken. New zones like .hosting, .tech, .online—cheaper and often more accurately convey topic.
Path to Page
/guides/server-config - shows where on server needed page lies.
Used to be real folders on disk. Now most often it's just logical structure created by CMS. But principle is same—by path you can see where you are on site.
Good path structure helps everyone. You look at /blog/tutorials/wordpress and immediately understand—this is WordPress tutorial in blog section. Not some /page?id=834769.
Just don't get carried away with nesting. /category/subcategory/sub-subcategory/article is overkill. Stay around 2-3 levels maximum.
Query Parameters
?ref=newsletter - these are parameters. Start with question mark, then key=value pairs.
Needed to pass data to server. Like "show English version" or "filter products by price". Also often used for analytics—where user came from, which campaign clicked.
Parameters are useful, but there's a catch. Google can perceive /products?sort=price and /products?sort=name as different pages. But content is same. Get duplicate.
Solved by configuring robots.txt or canonical tags. But better to use parameters minimally.
Anchor - Jump Inside Page
#security - anchor. Hash at end of address.
Browser gets page and automatically scrolls to element with id="security". Super convenient for long articles—make table of contents at top, each item leads to its anchor.
Anchors don't go to server, processed locally. Google sometimes even shows them in search results as sub-links.
How to Format URL Correctly
Technically you can stuff bunch of different characters into URL. But doesn't mean you should.
Only Latin and Hyphens
Use letters a-z, numbers 0-9, hyphens. Period. Everything else either works crookedly or turns into %D0%B0%20%D1%82%D0.
Spaces, Cyrillic, special characters—all encoded with percents and becomes unreadable.
Bad: the.hosting/Наши Услуги Good: the.hosting/nashi-uslugi
If you have Russian-language site—make transliteration. Or translate key pages to English in URL. Better for SEO and international audience will understand.
Only Lowercase
Servers can be configured differently—case-sensitive or not. But why guess?
For Google /Blog and /blog are potentially different pages. Even if you have one content. Get duplicate, weight smeared.
Simple rule—always lowercase. No exceptions.
Separate Words with Hyphens
Multiple words in URL? Hyphens between them.
Google understands hyphens as spaces. But underscores or merged writing—no.
Good: /vps-hosting-germany Bad: /vpshostinggermany or /vps_hosting_germany
Shorter = Better
Ideal URL contains keyword and describes page. But stays short.
Throw out stop words. "And", "for", "with", "in"—all this doesn't add value, only lengthens address.
Compare: Horrible: /complete-detailed-guide-to-choosing-the-best-vps-hosting-provider Normal: /choosing-vps-hosting
Short URL easier to remember, simpler to type on phone, looks better in search.
Always Write Protocol
When creating links, specify full address with https://. Relative links like //the.hosting/page can glitch when sharing on social networks.
Why URL Structure Really Matters
URL affects three things: SEO, user trust, and convenience.
SEO and Search Positions
Google looks at URL when indexing. Presence of keywords in address gives small boost. A little, but all else being equal can play role.
Plus URL is shown in search results. Users see address BEFORE clicking.
What looks more reliable?
- the.hosting/vps/netherlands
- the.hosting/product?id=47&cat=hosting&type=3
First is immediately clear where it leads. Second is mystery.
Trust and Clicks
Hover mouse over link—browser shows URL at bottom. At this moment person decides—click or not.
Clear address = more trust = more clicks.
Unclear set of numbers and parameters raises suspicions. Especially in emails or messages—maybe it's phishing?
Easy to Share
Try dictating over phone address like:
the.hosting/products?id=47&utm_source=email&utm_campaign=winter%202024
And now:
the.hosting/vps-winter-promo
Feel difference? Second option can be remembered and typed manually. First—only copy-paste.
In messengers short URLs don't get cut off, don't wrap to multiple lines. In social media posts look neat.
Stability
Good structure lives for years. Thought through once—and don't change during redesigns.
Every URL change is redirects, loss of search positions, headache. One-two redirects—okay. Hundreds—nightmare.
Better to do right from start.
Typical URL Mistakes
What NOT to do.
Dynamic Parameters Everywhere
Many CMS out of box generate /page.php?id=123. Works, but terrible for SEO and people. In WordPress, Joomla, any normal system there are friendly URLs—enable them.
Content Duplicates
One page opens by 4 different addresses:
- the.hosting
- www.the.hosting
- the.hosting/index.html
- the.hosting/home
For Google these are 4 pages with one content. Choose one option, redirect others with 301.
Too Deep
/category/sub/subsub/subsubsub/article
User looks at such URL and thinks—damn, where am I even? Keep important pages 2-3 clicks from homepage.
Dates in Addresses
/2024/01/article-name—popular in blogs. Problem—in a year article looks outdated, even if you update it.
Better /blog/article-name. Evergreen structure.
How to Launch Site with Correct URL Structure
Clear in theory—let's go to practice.
Choose Hosting for Task
Domain exists—need server where everything will run.
For beginners and blogs: Aluminium at €5.77/month - vCore x1, 1GB RAM, 25GB NVMe. Enough for small WordPress site.
For business and stores: Palladium at €15.77/month - vCore x4, 8GB RAM, 90GB NVMe. Will normally handle WooCommerce or corporate portal.
For serious projects: White Pearl at €170/month - 2× E5-2697Av4, 64GB RAM, 2×960GB SSD, 10Gbps port. Hundreds of thousands of visitors per day—no problem.
Everywhere unlimited traffic, OS choice (Linux/Windows), full root. Data centers in 50+ countries—place server closer to audience.
Install HTTPS
Right after launch configure SSL. On THE.Hosting this is done in couple clicks—free Let's Encrypt.
HTTPS encrypts data, protects users. Even if you just have blog without forms—still mandatory. Google cuts in search sites without encryption.
Configure Friendly URLs
In WordPress go to "Settings → Permalinks", choose "Post name". Instead of /?p=123 you get /post-title.
Other CMS have similar principle. Main thing—enable human-readable URLs, don't leave default with parameters.
Useful Tools
Transliteration
For Russian-language sites need automatic transliteration. WordPress has built-in, for own projects there are libraries like speakingurl.
Redirect Checker
Services like redirect-checker.org show where and how URL redirects. Indispensable during migration or structure change.
Sitemap
File with list of all site URLs. Helps Google index content. CMS usually generate automatically or through plugins.
Google Search Console
Shows which URLs are indexed, where problems are, if there are duplicates. Free and very useful.
Key Takeaways
URL is not just address. It's part of UX, navigation, SEO.
What to remember:
- Use HTTPS everywhere
- Make URLs short and descriptive
- Add keywords
- Only Latin, numbers, hyphens
- Only lowercase
- Think through structure right away
This doesn't require money or special knowledge. But gives effect.
Launching new project? Think through URLs at start. Register domain where convenient, configure friendly URLs, install SSL.
THE.Hosting provides reliable hosting: VPS in 50+ locations and dedicated servers, free SSL, 24/7 support. Start small or take powerful config right away—there's option for any budget.