What Is TLD? Definition and Types

TLD is an acronym for ‘Top Level Domain’ which is used to indicate what type endings your domain has at the end of its name. It has several endings to add at the end of every registered domain name. Since the birth of web and Internet, new and new extensions are coined and approved by the IANA.

When you create site a site, it needs a domain name which has a top level endings like .com, .org, .net, .info, .buz, .co etc. As for my site, Bloggingnowatoz has the .com extension. The most frequently used Top Level Domain aka TLDs are 300 plus. The actual registered numbers of them are more than 1000.

Page of Contents

• What is a TLD?
• Types of TLD
• Why many TLDs?

Definition of TLD

TLD or Top Level Domain is the part of a domain that is placed after the dot(.) and it is a must for domain. Without it, there is no domain. So you can define it as the last part of a domain which comes after the final dot. Very often users type web address on your browser’s search box and when they type it, they don’t type the full address including http or https rather only the domain with endings such as Google.com, Blogspot.com, WordPress.com etc.

What I am going to persuade you that users type only the full domain name and don’t type protocol and www when they visit a site. Suppose you are going to visit Google. What to type on the browser’s tab? Do you need to type https://www.google.com? No. Simply Google.com. No need to type the full URL. So, you can understand that TLD is the last part of a domain that comes after the dot.

What Are the Types of TLD?

Now, there are four types of TLDs which you can see in the IANA database. All of the suffixes are created for particular specifications. Most of them are for general purposes. However, there are some restrictions on some particular Domain suffixes.

The Top Level Domain is classified into four categories:

1. gTLD–Generic Top Level Domain
2. ccTLD–Country Code Top Level Domain
3. sTLD– Sponsored Top Level Domain
4. Infrastructure Top Level Domain

1. Generic Top Level Domain

Generic Top Level Domains are those domain endings which anyone can select and register. There are no restrictions or specifications about these extensions. Most of the domain extensions are generic.

The list generic Top Level Domains:

• .Com
• .Org
• .Net
• .Biz
• .Tech
• .Shop
• .Website
• .Online
• .Name
• Pro etc.

These are some of the domain endings regarded as generic.

2. Country Code Top Level Domain

The ccTLD or Country Code Top Level Domain is a kind of domain suffix which is reserved for a particular country or geographical area. Most of the domain suffixes for country code consist of two letters.

The examples of ccTLD are:

• .Us-for the United States.
• .Uk- for the United Kingdom.
• .Au- for Australia
• .Ca- for Canada
• .In- for India
• .Co- for Columbia
• .De- for Germany etc.

3. Sponsored Top Level Domain

The sponsored Top Level Domain relates to a particular ethnic community, specific profession or a defined geographical location.

• .Gov-for governmental use.
• .Edu-for educational purpose.
• .Millitary-for millitary.
• .Travel-for travelling agency.

4. Infrastructure Top Level Domain

Infrastructure Top Level Domain is assigned to a peculiar organization. So far, there is only one domain endings in this category and this .arpa.

Why Many TLDs ?

Such kind of query may flash upon your mind. Why so several Top Level Domains? You know that domain extension refers to what type site it is to which it is attached. At the dawn of Internet, the most well-known domain suffix was .com and even now it is the most popular TLD that most of the site owners use. So, what I am going to explain is that each domain endings serves a specific purpose.

Assume that you have a website which offers services relating to tour and travel. For such kind of site you have to use the most suitable domain extension. But what it is for such kind of service? As per recent list of TLDs, the most suitable domain endings for site offering tour or travel is .Travel. You can use other domain suffix but the .travel is the exact match.

Similarly, if you provide educational services through your site, you can choose the .Edu extension for better identification and branding of your website.

That’s is why the big agency use .org extension to denote that their site is organizational. The governmental websites have .gov endings to their domain names.

So, each TLD created to denote a specific service that it provides through a site.