What is a URL?
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. A URL is the complete address of a web page that a browser uses to retrieve the exact resource on the correct server.
A typical URL consists of several parts:
https://www.engelhardt-medien.de/leistungen/webdesign
- https:// – the protocol (encrypted connection via SSL)
- www.engelhardt-medien.de – the domain
- /services/web-design/ – the path to the specific subpage
URL and SEO
A page’s URL is a direct ranking factor: Google reads the path and uses it as an indication of the page’s topic. A descriptive URL like /leistungen/webdesign/nuernberg/ is much more helpful than /page?id=42. The rule for every page is: keep it short, descriptive, with the most important keyword in the path—and without umlauts (i.e., nuernberg instead of nürnberg).
URL, Permalink, and Slug
In WordPress, the customizable address of a page is called a permalink. The editable part after the domain—for example, webdesign-nuernberg—is called a slug. Both can be customized directly in WordPress while editing a page.