A Primer To Learning TLDs And Other Details

Most people are well versed in how to use the Internet. However, not everyone may understand how the sites are organized. At one level, they are organized in a technological structure, which allows the computers on it to communicate easily. Of course, humans use the Internet as well so there is a second layer of organization that includes domains. These are the plain language site names that make it easy for you to find a site again.

As part of its plain language address is the top level domain (TLD) that indicates in which basic category any given domain names is placed. As the most generic identifier, the TLD is the text after the final period to the right. So the website Yahoo.com where ". Com" is the site's TLD.

The list of TLDs available is managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). It has distributed authority for their management to an array of various organizations throughout the world. Domain names can be purchased through a variety of commercial organizations, who work with these ICANN authorized groups to ensure no domain names are used twice. The variety of these words helps expand the volume of domain names available by enabling the same text string (say "MyAwesomeWebsite") to exist on multiple TLDs while each represents a unique website.

The first collection was divided into three main divisions: countries, categories, and multi-organizations. The original category options were COM, NET, EDU, GOV, MIL, and ORG. Each one represented a general site type. The most popular one for domain names has historically been COM (commercial) intended for business interests, but in reality available for use by anyone.

Some of these category endings were more restrictive as to what kind of sites could use it. For example, EDU, which stands of education, was only available to sites operated by educational institutions. Currently, the category types are now called generic top level domains (gTLD). The range of available gTLDs that you can use in domain names has grown considerably. Some of the newer category TLDs includes NAME (for private individuals), INFO, and BIZ (specifically for businesses). Others have been created for specific industries, like AERO and TEL.

The scope of country and geographic code TLDs has also grown. Traditionally, these codes have been two letter abbreviations, such as UK (United Kingdom) or EU (European Union). One of the newest collections of country codes (ccTLD) are being created in languages that aren't written with the Latin alphabet. These are being created for such countries like China, Russia, Greece, and the Arabic speaking countries.

As the Internet continues to expand, proposed additions to the list of approved choices expands as well. Some of the new types of geographic endings proposed focus on popular city names, like Berlin, NYC, and London. Other types of new suggestions include Free, Shop, and Music. The more precise a TLD can be, the more information it can provides users about the various domain names they see.

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Read up on domain registration at UK2 http://www.uk2.net/ . Learn more about TLDs, and if you require this kind of domain names service http://www.uk2.net/domain-names/

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