What is the top level domain?

Running a successful business today requires building a successful online presence that expands your business beyond a brick and mortar store.

More and more shoppers are looking online for all of their needs, and if your business doesn't exist, you might lose profits and repeat customers. Just registering a domain name does not guarantee success. Instead, it's helpful to understand website domain names, how they work, the different types of domain names available, and how this technology plays a role in your decision to choose the ideal domain name.

Let's start with the question, "What is a top-level domain?"

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The early days of computers

To understand Top Level Domains (TLDs), you first need to know how domains work with IP addresses. Think of it this way: every device that connects to the web has an IP address, or a unique electronic signature, that distinguishes one device from another. The domain name is the specified text entered after the protocol tag (http: //) for the web address. For example, at http://google.com/search/, the domain name is "Google."

Although you are probably familiar with more prominent domain names, not many are aware that these names denote a website's IP address. In fact, every device that connects to the web has an IP signature. When computers were first created, computer scientists invented an ingenious way to communicate using digital strings of 32 or 128 bits, known as Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. These IP addresses served two purposes:

1. Determine the network or host.
2. The location of the computer terminal.

Computers are programmed to follow these sets of protocols in order to locate and communicate with another computer, or to communicate with the web. These protocols facilitate this communication, making it easier for computers to find each other, and to send or request information.

DNS

In the early days, this numerical system was in effect, since there were so few computers on the network. However, as you might imagine, keeping track of which IP address a computer went to became more difficult as more computers and systems were added. Organizing and managing IP addresses was not a feasible or effective method, as you had to know the exact IP address of any desired website or computer. To simplify this complex system, computer scientists have created the Domain Name System (DNS).

While computers work great with numbers, humans tend to prefer words. We are infinitely better at remembering and categorizing names, unlike seemingly random number sequences. Knowing this, the Domain Name System has been proposed as a remedy for the IP address dilemma. This system allows the IP address owner to associate this numeric string with a unique domain name. So, instead of having to remember “74.125.224.72”, you can simply type in Google.com.

This system was met with resounding enthusiasm. In one fell swoop, the following improved:

Make the system easier to navigate.

• Help distinguish, organize, track, and monitor IP addresses.
• Increasing the ability to surf and use the Internet.

As a result, in less than three decades, the DNS database has added billions of names.

How does DNS work:

The DNS database lists all of the domain names and their corresponding IP addresses. Anytime the domain name is entered, the DNS forwards this domain name via the DNS server. This server is not one mega server, but rather a sea of ​​servers all over the world, which work in harmony to distinguish one IP address from another.

When a search occurs, filtering is done by the following:

• Duplicate DNS
• Root Name Server

Top-level domain name server

Official Name Server

When this happens, there is a system hierarchy and protocol arrangement that facilitates searching through the servers. A top-level domain (TLD) is the highest level in this hierarchical domain name system.

Original top-level domains

• In essence, a TLD, also known as a domain extension, is what follows the domain name in the query. .Com at google.com is the top-level domain. These extensions have been suggested as ways to help further differentiate and categorize domains. In the early days of the Internet, the system was classified more strictly according to these TLDs.
• The top-level domain is designed to help categorize a website feature, such as purpose, owner, or geographic origin. It has also doubled the number of domain names available, because cars.com isn't the same as cars.org. For this purpose, six original top-level domain names were created. Now that you understand what domain name extensions are, and know how they work, here are some of the most popular options available:
• .Com - dot-coms for business, is the most popular top-level domain (TLD) in use today. As their names suggest, it was initially intended to distinguish commercial organizations. The first three .com files were:
• Symbolics.com
• BBN.com
• Thnk.com

In the early days, .com was restricted to commercial entities, but by the 1990s, these restrictions were lifted, leading to the opening of registration doors. As the Internet continues to grow in use and popularity, dot-coms quickly become the most used top-level domain.

• .net - short for network, point networks are created for network technology companies such as infrastructure companies or Internet Service Providers (ISPs). When it was first introduced, only one domain used dot-net TLD, Nordu.net, which connected national research and educational networks in the Nordic countries. Similar to .coms, the restrictions on .net were not strictly enforced, eventually resulting in it becoming a "general purpose namespace".
• .edu - As you likely know, .edu is a top-level domain intended for US educational institutions, such as colleges or high schools. The top three are:
  University of California Berkeley - Berkeley.edu
  Carnegie Mellon University - Cmu.edu
  Purdue University - Purdue.edu
  Unlike dot-nets or dot-coms, dot-edu TLD restrictions are strictly supported, which means it must be an accredited and registered educational body. While they used to be only four-year post-secondary institutions, they are now limited to accredited U.S. post-secondary educational institutions.
• .org - originally created for organizations that operated as nonprofits, the first being the Miter Corporation at Miter.org. This has also become a generic TLD that is used by both nonprofits and profit organizations.
• .mil - Created and used by the US military. Dot-mils are high-level domain extensions limited to the United States military branches:
• United States Army
• United States Navy
• US Marine Corps
• United States Air Force
• United States Coast Guard

• As a note, countries outside of America that want to use .mil must first use their country code to distinguish them from the US military branches.

• .gov - short for government, dot-govs, similar to dot-mils, are limited to US federal government agencies and personal use. Dot-govs are used by federal government agencies, programs, cities, states, counties, and towns.

Country code top-level domains

Although the Internet was created for US government use, it quickly opened up to the public, as well as to the rest of the world. Since many of these top-level domains were limited to the U.S. government or the U.S. military, country code top-level domains (ccTLDs) were added to help distinguish one country from another. The two-letter country codes are:

• .au – Australia
• .ca – Canada
• .mx – Mexico
• .uk – Great Britain

Generic top-level domain

Over time, more top-level domains were added to the original list. Presently, there are 21 generic top-level domains at the peak of the domain name system hierarchy. These 21 generic TLDs can be split into four categories:

Generic – Domains that are used for general reasons.

• .com
• .info
• .net
• .org

Generic restricted – Domains that must be used for their intended purposes

• .biz
• .name
• .pro

Infrastructure – Meant solely for aiding the DNS infrastructure. The only TLD within this subcategory is .arpa.

Sponsored domains – These can only be utilized by companies or entities tied to these industries including:

• .aero
• .asia
• .cat
• .coop
• .edu
• .gov
• .int
• .jobs
• .mil
• .mobi
• .tel
• .travel
• .xxx

Generic TLDs

Today, there are more than 1,500 generic extensions available for purchase and worthy of consideration. While your first inclination may be to try and use a .com, such a TLD can sometimes be costly, and many of the domain names linked to that TLD are already taken. The market is oversaturated with millions upon millions of websites. Finding a domain name with a popular TLD that is relevant and helpful to your business can be quite difficult.

Because of this, it may be wise to consider purchasing a newer generic TLD. Benefits of this include:

• Availability – New domain extensions allow you the opportunity to use your company’s name, or use a word or phrase linked to your industry that would have been taken decades ago with the original TLDs.
  
  
• Cost – If a popular domain name is available, it may cost a lot of money. That same name with a generic TLD extension can cost considerably less money.
  
  
• Creative Names – New domain extensions allow you to be creative with your domain naming process. The domain name can be combined with the generic extension to create a full name, or a clever play on words, that helps the target audience remember the name.
  
  
• Rank on SERPs – Google’s search algorithm has been updated so that domains that do not use a main TLD are not ranked lower for that reason. You don’t need to worry about your rankings on Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) being affected by this newer gTLD.

Registering a top-level domain

In order to register a domain name with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), you must do so with a registrar, such as Atakdomain.com. You can check if the ideal domain name and domain extension are available by searching on the domain. You will need to provide the following information when registering:

• Your domain name
  
  
• Extending your top-level domain

Your contact information: first name, last name, email address, phone number, and physical address

• Your billing information

After receiving this information, Atakdomain.com sends this information to ICANN and the DNS. Once confirmed, you can quickly set up your domain and create a website.

Top-level domains help customers find your business online

The creation of the DNS opened the Internet to the world, increasing its accessibility and ease of use. Top-level domains have helped simplify and further categorize the different domain names, and the newer generic TLDs have increased the number of possible domains. As a result, you can rest assured that the perfect domain and range of top-level domains are here, just waiting for you.

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