# URL A URL is a page’s address on the web. You ship pages, so your URLs decide what search engines crawl, index and show. Get the parts right and avoid clones that split clicks and links. Updated 2026-09-14 · Source: https://porteur.ai/glossary/url ## What a URL is, in parts A URL is a page’s address: the scheme https, the host www.example.com, the path /guides/what-is-a-url, an optional query string ?sort=new and a fragment #section. The scheme says how to connect. The host is the domain. The path is the file or route. The query string holds parameters. The fragment jumps within the page. Example full URL: https://www.example.com/pricing?plan=pro#faq. You can remove the query or the fragment and you have different URLs. ## Why every variant is a page To a search engine every distinct URL is a distinct page. That includes http and https, www and non www, trailing slash and not, upper and lower case, and parameter order. - http://example.com/pricing and https://example.com/pricing - https://www.example.com/pricing and https://example.com/pricing - https://example.com/pricing and https://example.com/pricing/ - https://example.com/Docs and https://example.com/docs - https://example.com/list?a=1&b=2 and https://example.com/list?b=2&a=1 Pick one as the canonical and make the rest 301 redirect or canonicalise. If you do neither, you create duplicates that split signals and waste crawl budget. > Rule: choose https or http, www or non www, trailing slash or not, then enforce it everywhere. ## What a good URL looks like Good URLs are short, lowercase, hyphenated, readable and stable. They describe the page in plain words and do not change often. - Readable: /pricing not /p123 - Hyphenate words: /guides/getting-started not /guides/gettingstarted - Lowercase: /docs/quick-start not /Docs/Quick-Start - Stable: avoid dates if you can, /blog/url-design not /blog/2024-url-design - Keep parameters out of core pages: /category/shoes not /category?type=shoes A fixed page might be https://yourproduct.com/guides/url-structure with internal links that match it exactly, always in lowercase, no trailing slash if you chose none. ## How to read and measure your URLs - Check the address bar for the exact URL, including case, slash and parameters. - List URLs from your sitemap at https://yourdomain.com/sitemap.xml and compare to what you link in navigation. - Use server logs or hosting analytics to see which URLs get hits, and spot parameter variants. - Use the URL inspection tool in Search Console to test one URL and see the indexed canonical. - Click through your site and copy internal links. Ensure they use the chosen variants and not mixed forms. Track changes. When you ship a new /pricing path, set a redirect from any old /plans path and update all internal links. Keep a redirect map for launches and migrations. ## Fixes and traps - Force https site wide. Redirect http to https. - Pick www or non www and redirect the other. - Be consistent on trailing slash. Redirect the form you do not use. - Serve all paths in lowercase. Redirect uppercase to lowercase on a case sensitive host. - If you must use query parameters, add rel=canonical to the clean path version when the content is the same. - Sort parameters consistently. Prefer ?page=2&sort=new to a random order. - Do not rely on fragments for unique content. #section is not sent to the server and does not make a new page. - Avoid renaming slugs for cosmetic reasons. Stability beats neatness once a URL is live. - Fix 404s with redirects where a replacement exists. Remove old links that still point to deleted URLs. > Warning: changing URL structure without a redirect plan can drop indexed pages and lose link equity overnight. ## Questions ### How do I locate my URL? Open the page in a browser and copy the full address from the bar. If you control the site, also check your sitemap to see the canonical path you expose. ### What does a URL mean on a form or app? It wants the full address to a page, for example https://yourproduct.com/pricing. Include the scheme, the host and the path. Leave out spaces and punctuation. ### How do I open my URL? Paste it into a browser address bar and press Enter. If it redirects, note the final address. That is the form you should link to and share. ### Should I use a trailing slash? Pick one style for paths and keep it. If you serve https://example.com/docs, redirect https://example.com/docs/ to it, or the other way round. Consistency avoids duplicates. ### Are uppercase letters OK in URLs? Avoid them. Many servers treat /Docs and /docs as different. Use lowercase only and redirect any uppercase hits to lowercase. ### Do query strings hurt SEO? Parameters can create duplicates and index bloat when they do not change the content. Prefer clean paths. If parameters are needed, canonicalise to the clean version. ## Read next - [URL slug](https://porteur.ai/glossary/url-slug): A URL slug is the last part of a URL that identifies the page. See what good slugs look like, how they affect clicks, and how to change them safely. - [Canonical URL](https://porteur.ai/glossary/canonical-url): A canonical URL names the original version of a page. Use it to handle parameters and duplicates, avoid split signals and keep the right page indexed. - [Canonical tags: what they do and the mistakes that cost rankings](https://porteur.ai/guides/canonical-tag): What a canonical tag does, when to use one, the mistakes that cost rankings, and how to check and fix canonicals on a small site. - [www or non-www: pick one, redirect the other](https://porteur.ai/guides/www-vs-non-www): Pick www or non-www, there is no SEO gain either way. 301 redirect every path to the chosen host, set canonicals, and verify a Domain property. - [Trailing slash: two URLs for one page unless you decide](https://porteur.ai/guides/trailing-slash-seo): Google sees /page and /page/ as different. Pick one form, redirect the other, and keep links and your sitemap consistent. Here is how to do it. - [Moving from HTTP to HTTPS: the checklist that keeps rankings](https://porteur.ai/guides/http-to-https-migration): Move from HTTP to HTTPS without losing rankings. Use one-hop 301s, update canonicals and sitemaps, fix mixed content, and verify the HTTPS property. Drop your homepage URL into the free check and, in about thirty seconds, it reads your site and rivals on your searches and shows three URL findings you can ship now. Free check: https://porteur.ai/