How does a website work?

The first thing to understand is the internet and the web that provide a ground for websites. The internet is the technology or infrastructure connecting computers and facilitating information sharing. The web is the system that enables information sharing using the internet. It encompasses digital documents, websites, webpages, media and more. To view web content, we use web browsers like Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox or Safari.

When you enter a web address or domain name into your browser, your computer sends a request to the hosting server. This request passes through the Domain Name System (DNS) to look up the server’s internet protocol (IP) address. The web service uses protocols like Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) and File Transfer Protocol (FTP) to transmit information and files over the web.

Once the server receives the request, it sends back the requested webpage, along with images and other files, to your computer. The browser then displays the webpage using technologies like HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). These technologies structure and present the information on the screen. Website loading time depends on a range of factors like server speed, internet connection quality and website size and complexity.