Internet and computer basics

URL, domain name, IP address and DNS

A URL is the address of a web page or file: the text shown in the browser's address bar, such as https://www.example.jp/news. The www.example.jp part is the domain name, built on a name such as example.jp that the site's owner has registered. Computers on the internet actually find each other by number, like phone numbers; that number is the IP address. DNS works like a phone book that looks up the number for a domain name, so entering a URL reaches the right computer. Fake sites often use a domain name that looks like the real one, so it helps to check the domain name in a URL.