Domain types explained

First, discover all the different domain types and understand their application, then you can decide on your perfect domain.

Top-Level Domains (TLDs)

A top-level domain is a domain name extension. Various TLDs are available online, but .com is the most popular extension.

However, using a less popular extension, such as .online, often costs less and can make a domain more unique. With the increasing number of new websites created daily, the popularity of a specific TLD might also change in the future.

In 1985, The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) released six top-level domain names:

.com: shorthand for commercial, .com was the first top-level domain in common use.

.net: shorthand for network, .net was created expressly for institutes that partook in network technologies such as an internet service provider or an infrastructure company.

.edu: shorthand for education, .edu was made for education institutions.

.org: shorthand for organization, .org was created for nonprofits.

.mil: shorthand for the military.

.gov: shorthand for the government.

Check out the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) for the official list of all legitimate TLDs.

https://www.iana.org/domains/root/db

Country code top-level domains (ccTLD)

A country-code top-level domain is an extension that is specific to a particular country. It consists of two letters based on the international country codes.

A ccTLD is best for a company that focuses on a specific country. This way, international companies can differentiate their content for different regions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_code_top-level_domain

gTLDs: Generic Top Level Domains

A generic top-level domain is an extension that does not rely on a country code. Such as .com, .edu, .info, .org, and .net.

When choosing a domain, you’ll want to think about what will work best for your brand and your audience and pick something memorable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_top-level_domain

Second-Level Domain (SLD)

The SLD is what people will associate with your website.

Example: www.extilum.com. As we’ve seen, .com is the TLD. The SLD is what immediately precedes it, which in this case is “extilum”.

Third-Level Domain

For example: in www.extilum.com the TLD is .com, and the SLD is extilum. That leaves us with the third-level domain or the www section.

By default, your third-level domain will be www.

Premium Domain

A premium domain is a domain that someone else owns.

Often, people will be willing to sell their domain for the right price.

This is referred to as domain reselling, or buying a domain that someone else privately owns.

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Related Articles

• Search for a domain
• How to choose a Domain Name?
• What is a domain name?

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