Domain vs URL: Understanding The Similarities and Differences

While looking for domains in Australia, you might get confused between a URL and a domain. They seem to be used interchangeably. But the truth is both domain and URL are entirely different. 

A uniform resource locator (URL) represents the complete address of a website, whereas a domain name is that part of a URL that mainly represents an IP address. So, while choosing the perfect domain hosting in Australia, read this article to understand the similarities and differences between domain and URLs. 

Difference Between Domain and URL 

To understand the key difference between a domain vs URL, it is essential to understand what each term means. A web domain is the name of a website that makes up the part of a website’s address. 

A URL is the full address of your website that tells the servers exactly where to go and where to find the website that people eagerly want to visit. 

So now let us break down the terms to get a detailed idea about how these work. 

What is Domain? 

A domain is the name of the website that makes it a part of the web address. For example, at https://www.website.com, the domain of this web address is website.com. 

Further, it is also possible to break down this domain into two distinctive parts: a top-level domain and a second-level domain. In this example, the website is the second-level domain, and .com is the top-level domain.

What is a URL? 

URL mainly stands for uniform resource locator, a complete version of your domain name. In addition to telling the system which website a person wants to visit, a URL notifies them about the specific location of the website. 

Similarities Between Domain and URL 

. Purpose 

The purpose of the domain and URLs are very similar. Both point users to a particular part of the Internet. This means that when you decide what domain to use for your business, the URLs of your website pages are affected as well. 

. SEO 

Both website domain and URL significantly impact the website’s SEO. Your website’s domain is the primary factor, while a URL is considered a secondary factor.  

Differences Between Domain Name and URL – Key Takeaways

Factors  Domain  URL 
Specific vs. General  A domain is more generalised. It refers to many web pages that connect to form an entire website.  A URL is specific because it mainly refers to a single page. 
Buying and Selling  You can always buy and sell domain names with the help of an online registrar. Usually, you can purchase a domain name for a specific set of periods, like for one or two years.  On the other hand, it is not possible to buy and sell URLs similarly. 
Temporary vs. Permanent  Domain names are always permanent because a particular owner holds them.  URLs are always considered temporary because they change every time website owners change their websites’ structure or page titles.

Conclusion

To wrap it up, that was all about the significant difference between domain name and URL. By now, it might be clear to you that the URL is the complete address of a website, whereas a domain name is considered part of a URL that represents the IP address of a system. 

Remember that a domain name is the core part of the URL used to identify the website and corresponding IP address.