# url

A <span class="caps">URL</span>, short for Uniform Resource Locator, is like a telephone number in that it gives a unique way of locating any web page in the world.

- [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/)<span class="caps">URL</span>

- <span class="caps">URL</span> official specification [http://www.w3.org/Addressing/](http://www.w3.org/Addressing/)<span class="caps">URL</span>/url-spec.html

**For Web Developers (or for users to request of their site)**

A “friendly” <span class="caps">URL</span> is an address that is human-readable, void of unnecessary technical information, most common if the page is dynamically generated.

- “Unfriendly” : …ucla.edu/example.php?title=<span class="caps">UCLA</span>%20to%20Lead%20National%20Effort….&amp;date=2006-07-12%2009%3A45%3A08

- “Friendly” : …ucla.edu/2006/07/12/ucla-to-lead-national-effort/

In addition, a technique called “<span class="caps">URL</span> rewriting” can be used to create friendly URLs and improve search rankings. A good overview of what it is, why it can be useful and how to do it: [http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2011/11/02/introduction-to-url-rewriting/](http://coding.smashingmagazine.com/2011/11/02/introduction-to-url-rewriting/)