Parts of a URL

A URL consists of ten parts: the scheme, subdomain, top-level domain, second-level domain, subdirectory, parameter, port, path, query, and fragment. While a URL doesn’t have to contain all of these parts at once, it will always have at least three of them.

Below is an illustration of the basic parts of a URL. A URL will always have a scheme or protocol, a domain name, and path:

A graphic titled URL BREAKDOWN illustrating the components of a URL using the example http.solutions.prestosports.com supersuite. Brackets identify the scheme (http), subdomain (solutions), second-level domain (prestosports), top-level domain (.com), and subdirectory (supersuite).