What Types of Domain Names Are There?

Creating an online presence allows you to better reach your target audience and can help increase turnover. Picking an ideal domain name when building a website for your brand can help boost online performance.

Premium domain names are more marketable, have valuable link juice, and promote healthy traffic statistics. Domain names define your brand, enabling website visitors to understand the type of product or services you deal in.

Your choice of a domain name can alter how your URL looks. Here are the different types of domain names and how you can tell them apart:

Top-Level Domains

Top-level Domains (TLDs) are domain name extensions that represent the highest level in the Domain Name System (DNS) hierarchy. They are also known as domain endings since they appear at the end of website addresses. Because of their high level, TLDs command a high demand as the internet grows.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) manages premium domain names and regulates their existence. IANA also sells rights to domain registrars to control TLD availability for specific organizations. There are six top-level domain names, including:

• .com (commercial): This is the most popular domain for businesses, email, and websites. Although .com domains are ideal for commercial organizations. They do not have stringent restrictions.
• .net (network): IANA created .net for institutes in network technologies such as Internet Service Providers (ISPs) or infrastructure companies.
• .gov (government): IANA restricts .gov for American federal and state governmental agencies and their personnel.
• .mil (military): Thus is the official domain name for the United States Military and its branches.
• .org (organization): IANA created .org for non-profit organizations, but today, it is used for schools, communities, and some for-profit businesses.
• .edu (educational): This domain name's main focus was on educational institutions and learning centers.
  
  

Generic Top-Level Domains

Generic top-level domains (gTLDs) are a part of top-level domains. They appear within the root zone of the domain name system hierarchical structure. A sponsor controls sponsored gTLDs on behalf of the Internet corporation for assigned names and numbers (ICANN). ICANN manages non-sponsored domains in a centralized manner to guarantee universal resolvability.

Generic top-level domains are characterized into four sub-categories:

• Sponsored: These are domains assigned to businesses operating in specific industries. Sponsored domain endings include .aero, .cat, .coop, .tel, .job, .travel, and .int.
• Generic: These domain names, including .net, .com, .org, and .info, can be used for general purposes.
• Generic restricted: Such domain names can only be assigned for specific purposes. Examples include .pro (professional), .biz(business), and .name.
• Infrastructure: This domain is assigned for reverse DNS lookup and only contains .arpa.
  
  

Second Level Domains

Second-level domains (SLDs) appear below the TLDs on the DNS hierarchical structure. Since they are selected extensions under the TLDs, they are also known as domain names. SLDs feature a brand name and its respective TLD domain to make them more identifiable to potential customers.

Second-level domains assign vendors names that users can associate with their websites and brands. This makes SLDs critical for user experience. SLD name highlights keywords and specific website content.

Third Level Domains

Third-level domains appear below SLDs in the DNS hierarchical structure. They are often called subdomains since they aren't mandatory and are only included before SLDs. Adding them to the left of an SLD can add better structure to your website content on its landing pages.

"www." is a popular third-level domain for small companies. Larger companies with many departments use many third-level domains to distinguish different servers within the company or specify departments on their site.

Country Code Top-Level Domains

Country code top-level domains are assigned to nations, dependent regions, and sovereign states (ccTLDs). Two-letter domain extensions called "ccTLDs" are used to identify each country, such as ".us" for the United States of America, ".uk" for the United Kingdom, ".au" for Australia, and ".fr" for France (France). Although the domain extensions are country-specific, ICANN can also give particular extensions to regions that are geographically isolated from their parent nations.

ccTLDs best work in sites that target an audience within a specific country. When creating a site to meet the global audience's needs, avoid ccTLDs since they can affect your site's reach.

Register Premium Domain Names

Choosing a domain name for your brand can influence marketing, brand reception, and turnover. Registering premium domain names help define your brand, allowing customers knowledge of what your business entails.