ZAR
KES - Kenya
NGN - Nigeria
USD - International
All domain guides
In short
A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the full address of one page or file on the internet, such as https://yourbusiness.co.za/services/web-design/. It includes the protocol, the domain name and the path to the page.
The parts of a URL
Take https://shop.yourbusiness.co.za/products/shoes/?colour=black#reviews:
| Part | Example | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Protocol | https:// | How the browser connects; https means encrypted |
| Subdomain | shop. | Optional prefix, see subdomains |
| Domain | yourbusiness.co.za | Your domain name |
| Path | /products/shoes/ | The page on the site |
| Query | ?colour=black | Extra options, such as filters or tracking |
| Fragment | #reviews | A section within the page |
URL vs domain name
The domain is one part of a URL. yourbusiness.co.za is a domain; https://yourbusiness.co.za/contact/ is the URL of your contact page.
Why https matters
The s means the connection is encrypted with an SSL certificate. Browsers mark http sites as “Not secure”, and Google prefers https. Every Hostnali hosting plan includes free SSL that installs and renews itself.
Good URLs for SEO
- Short and readable: /web-design-capetown/ beats /?p=1234.
- Words, not numbers, separated by hyphens.
- Lowercase, with no spaces or special characters.
- Stable: changing a URL loses its Google ranking unless you set a 301 redirect from the old one.
In WordPress, set Settings → Permalinks to Post name for clean URLs.
Common URL mistakes
- Sharing links with long tracking codes (utm_…) on your own site’s menus.
- Two versions of the site (with and without www, http and https) both working without redirects. Pick one; our hosting redirects http to https for you once SSL is active.
Your domain is the most important part of every URL. Find yours on domain registration.