What is a URL?

URL definition

A URL (Uniform Resource Locater) is an address that describes the location of a file on a disk or server. URLs are primarily used on the Internet, in browsers such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Safari.

Structure of a URL

The structure of a URL looks like this:

1. Protocol: https:// or http://
2. Domain name: e.g. backlinked.com
3. Directory: /wiki/url
4. File name: e.g. .pdf/.jpg

Accordingly, the result would be:

https://backlinked.com/wiki/url

Relevance for SEO

URLs play an essential role in OnPage optimization. With the help of the URLs of a domain, you can understand and comprehend the page architecture. If you take a quick look at the address bar of this post, you will definitely notice that you are in a subdirectory called “/wiki/” here. We set it that way.

Such subdirectories help Google to categorize unknown content and thus to optimally include it in the index.

Talking URLs & Keyword URLs

Search engines like Google place a high value on the URL of a website being as “clean” and speaking as possible. The idea behind this is to informthe user at an early stage – even before the click – about the content behind a URL.

Google itself recommends using important keywords in the URL.

A concrete example:

I’m writing this post so that it will show up in search results under the query “URL” later on. The probability that someone clicks on this post is significantly higher due to the search term in the URL. The user feels confirmed in his search, because the search term appears in the URL.

This increases the click-through rate – a clear indication that your post is popular in the search results. The more popular the post becomes, the more likely the Google algorithm will decide that it should be ranked higher.

Conclusion

Make your URLs as attractive and transparent as possible for potential users. If your URL sends the wrong signals to the user, your hard-earned rankings can quickly drop. Because if Google notices that users are dissatisfied with your search result, you will automatically be positioned further and further down.