When you create a website, the 1st step is to get a domain name. That will be the address of your website on the web.
Before you buy a domain name, you need to decide what kind of domain you need. There are multiple domain types that might confuse you: TLD, gTLD, ccTLD and so on.
Top Level Domain (TLD) is the main definition for domain name types. There are 2 types of TLDs:
- Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD)
- Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD)
Here is a brief explanation and some examples for all of them:
Top Level Domain (TLD)
This is the last part of the domain name located after the dot (.) in the URL of the website. For example: in www.google.com, the TLD is .com.
Examples of TLDs
- .com
- .net
- .org
Generic Top Level Domain (gTLD)
Generic Top Level Domain is not restricted or related to any particular geographical location.
Examples of TLDs
- .com – for commercial sites
- .net – for network sites
- .org – for organizations
- .edu – for education institutions
- .biz – for business sites
- .info – for informational sites
Country Code Top Level Domain (ccTLD)
Country Code Top Level Domain is the 2 letter domain name assigned and related to a specific country.
Examples of TLDs
- .at – for Austria
- .ca – for Canada
- .fr – for France
- .de – for Germany
- .it – for Italy
- .mx – for Mexico
- .nz – for New Zealand
- .tr – for Turkey
- .us – for United States
- .uk – for United Kingdom
How to Choose the Right Domain Name?
Now that you know the difference between all these abbreviations, it’s time to decide what domain name is suitable for your website.
This one is pretty simple. Just keep in mind the following:
- If your business is local and you would like to target users from a specific country – get a ccTLD. Example: .fr
- If your business is global and you want to target users from all over the world – get a gTLD. Example: .com
If you need some domain name ideas for inspiration, check these domain name generators.
