URL

A URL is the full address of a page or resource on the web, putting the protocol, domain, path and parameters together in one string.

A URL is the base unit that page-based analytics is built on: each address's views are counted and the “top pages” report is built by aggregating these addresses. But there are several traps in URL analysis. First, the parameter part of a URL (after the question mark) can split one page into dozens of different URLs; if a session ID or tracking parameter is in the URL, one page appears as hundreds of separate pages and the pages report becomes meaningless. This is why URLs often must be normalized. Second, the anchor part (after the # sign) never reaches the server, so in single-page apps that keep the route in the anchor, the page-based model breaks without extra help. A URL can also carry sensitive data: personal data should not be put in a URL parameter because it persists in logs and reports.