What is a valid URL: Your gateway to better SEO and user experience

Highlights

You’ll learn about:

• Improved search rankings: A valid uniform resource locator (URL) with relevant keywords boosts visibility on search engine result pages (SERPs)
• Better link management: Makes it easier to maintain and update website content
• Seamless browsing: Facilitates smooth navigation and reduces 404 errors
• Increased trust: Clear, descriptive URLs build credibility and trust among users
• Prevent phishing attacks: Identify legitimate websites, reducing the risk of malicious activities
• Efficient resource management: Organizes and manages web resources effectively

Do you want to create valid URLs for better performance and security?

Keep reading to learn more!

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When your customers hit a non-existent webpage, they encounter frustration that can result in decreased user experience, search engine rankings and loss to your business—your customers move to your competitors.

Each web page has a legitimate URL. A structured URL is an instrument for search engines to direct customers to the right web page, enhancing user interaction and SEO efficiency.

In this blog, we’ll discuss what makes a valid URL, from its definition to examples, its structure and its best practices. 

What is a valid URL?

A valid URL is a reference or address used for accessing resources on the internet. It defines the location of resources like a video, image, animation or web page. A valid URL is the address your customers type in the browser to access online information or data online.

However, never use the domain name and URL interchangeably, as they are two different terms. The domain name is the subset of your URL.

For instance, a URL is:

https://www.contentstack.com/blog/all-about-headless/headless-api-your-key-to-seamless-content-delivery

While the domain name is: www.contentstack.com

A URL incorporates the domain name and other details to make a complete web address that directs a browser to a specific domain called a web page. Every web page has a unique URL. Valid URLs ensure that your customers can easily access your web pages. 

A headless content management system (CMS) like Contentstack can help you autogenerate valid URLs.

Components of a valid URL

The structure of a valid URL breaks down into the following five parts:

Scheme

Indicates the protocol used to access the resource. Common schemes include:

• Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)
• HTTPS
• FTP

Prefer HTTPS for secure communication. But, unlike HTTP and HTTPS, FTP focuses on file transfers.

Hostname

A hostname is the server's domain name or IP address that hosts your resource. 

For example, in https://www.contentstack.com, www.contentstack.com is the hostname.

Path

The path specifies the exact location of your web page or resource on the server. It follows the hostname and starts with a forward slash. 

For example, in https://www.contentstack.com/blog/all-about-headless, /blog/all-about-headless is the path. 

Query string

Query strings contain additional parameters for accessing specific data or performing certain actions, often used in dynamic web pages. The string starts with a question mark (`?`) and includes key-value pairs separated by ampersands (`&`).

Here's an example of a query string: ?id=123&category=blogs

Fragment

Refers to a specific section within the resource. A fragment uses a hash symbol (`#`).

For example, https://www.example.com/page#section points to ‘section’ within the page.

Example of a valid URL

http://www.bank.com/login?php?param1=value1

While not all the components are required beyond a domain name, following the URL format to ensure it’s valid and directs the customer to the desired page is essential. Correctly structured URLs are functionally robust, aiding user experience and search engine optimization.

Case study: How did MongoDB modernize with Contentstack's headless CMS?

MongoDB was looking to modernize and localize its tech stack, so it chose Contentstack’s headless CMS for its design freedom and composable model. MongoDB migrated over 250 pages to Contentstack, with more planned and achieved faster development and publishing speeds. The company leveraged Contentstack’s integrations for language translation, digital asset management (DAM) and digital experimentation. MongoDB's adoption of a modern tech stack resulted in streamlined content migration, improved translation/localization and enhanced website/main URL speed.

After using Contentstack, Bill Mitchell, Senior Director, Web Strategy and Technology, MongoDB, said:

“Our team was excited to find a solution that better supported the business's needs today and into the future.”

Read the full case study here.

Importance of valid URLs

Web functionality

A valid URL provides your customers with a seamless user and browsing experience. Invalid URLs result in 404 errors, damaging the trust of those who land on them. Besides reducing website credibility, your customers are more likely to jump to competitors. With nearly three-quarters of your customers hitting a 404 error on your website and never returning, ensuring a valid URL is the key to conversion success. 

SEO

Search engines crawl and index your web pages using a URL. URL containing relevant keywords rank higher on the SERPs. Valid URLs contribute to better link management and SEO, making maintaining and updating your website content easier.

Web development and maintenance

Valid URLs ensure internal and external links within your website redirect to the pages they’re supposed to. Broken links frustrate your customers, decrease business credibility and make your web content harder to maintain. On the other hand, a valid URL helps you organize and manage your web resources, simplifying the maintenance task. 

Security

Valid URLs prevent phishing attacks. These URLs enhance your website’s security by helping customers reach legitimate websites. Valid URLs are clear and descriptive, making it easier for customers to identify suspicious links. For example, 

https://www.bank.com/login is trustworthy

compared to 

http://www.bank.com/login

Also, phishers use URL shorteners to mask malicious links. 

URL validation techniques

Unsafe characters

You cannot use several characters in a URL because they cause issues in how web browsers and servers interpret them. Certain cases of unsafe characters allow cyber attackers to launch malicious attacks on your web servers. Unsafe characters include:

• Space
• Angle brackets: < and >
• Quotation marks: “ and “
• Pipe: |
• Backslash: \ 
• Curly braces: { and }
• Square brackets [ and ]

Reserved characters

Reserved URL characters have special meanings and cannot be used directly without encoding. These characters include:

• Colon (:) 
• Slash (/)
• Question Mark (?)
• Hash (#) 
• Ampersand (&)
• Equals Sign (=)
• At symbol (@)

Basic URL syntax

A valid URL follows certain syntax rules, like using allowed characters and proper formatting. You cannot use unsafe or reserved characters because you need to encode them to fit URL standards.

Online URL validators

Several online tools are available for quick and easy URL validation. These tools check the URL structure, availability and sometimes even security.

You can use tools like:

• W3C Link Checker
• URLVoid

SEO Best Practices for URLs

Keep URLs short and simple

Short, straightforward URLs perform better in search rankings. Focus on URLs that are easy to read and free of unnecessary words or complex structures.

Avoid special characters

Always use only alphabetical, numeric, hyphen and underscore characters in the URL. Avoid using a dash, period, slash or any other characters that may distort the URL structure and require encoding.

Use secure protocols

Serve your URLs over HTTPS rather than HTTP to enhance your security. A secure site benefits your web ranking.

Minimize dynamic parameters

While dynamic URLs with query strings are sometimes necessary, static URLs are generally more SEO-friendly. Whenever possible, convert dynamic URLs into static formats to make them cleaner and more relevant for search engines.

Design a logical URL structure

Create a logical, hierarchical URL structure that mirrors your content organization. A well-structured hierarchy helps search engines understand the relationships between different pages, aiding in efficient indexing.

FAQs

What is a valid URL example?

A valid URL example is https://www.contentstack.com/platforms/headless-cms.

What's the difference between URLs and URIs?

A uniform resource identifier (URI) is a broader term that identifies a resource by location, name or both and includes URLs and URNs (Uniform Resource Names). On the other hand, a URL specifies how to access a resource through its location.

How do I find a valid URL?

You can find a valid URL using online validation tools or ensuring it adheres to basic syntax rules.

What makes a URL invalid?

A URL becomes invalid if it contains unsafe or reserved characters, incorrect syntax or is improper formatting.

Learn more

Valid URLs improve your web functionality, SEO performance and user experience. Optimize your website URLs for better performance and visibility to ensure business growth. Talk to us to learn how we can help you create and manage valid URLs.