What is a Top Level Domain?

If you’ve been looking find a domain name for your new business, product or even a blog you may have come across the term .TLD or Top Level Domain. You might be thinking, isn’t every domain name a top level domain or what exactly is a TLD or even, if there are Top Level Domains are there bottom level domains and if so how I can avoid them?

Where is the TLD on a Domain Name?

First off we must say that whatever type of domain that we’re talking about Top Level or otherwise, what we’re really looking at is the Domain Name Extension. The Domain Name Extension is what you call the last letters of a domain name, the ones past the “dot” or “.” This area is sometimes referred to as the “root” section of the domain name.

In the example of www.DomFind.com, the “.com” would be the Top Level Domain or TLD.

Let’s be 100% clear, a TLD is not a domain name extension, it can be but, there are other extensions that are NOT TLDs as we will see in this article.

All levels of domains, whether they’re top level or not need to have a Domain Name Extension otherwise they don’t work. If you have any question as to what a domain name is or to learn more about domain names, we have a great article all about that.

What Makes a Domain Name, a Top Level Domain?

In the beginning, no not of the universe but, the beginning of the internet, domain names were divided into three main sections.

These three are .com built for COMmercial, .edu for EDUcation and .gov for GOVernment.

Now TLD’s also include country codes, for example .ca for Canada and .uk for the United Kingdom.

Recently ICANN or the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers has decided to expand what a TLD is to include .info for INFORmation as well.

Should I get a non TLD Domain Name?

The short answer is no. You’ll see that all the domain names you’ll find on DomFind are TLD’s and more specifically .coms. We never deal in anything other.

Since the beginning, as mention above, the .com domain name has been set up as the commercial or domain name. Since then it has become the go to for all businesses. Over the years ICANN has released more and more domain name extensions, you might have heard of them, domains like .comedy, .xxx, .film, .shop, .gay, .map and the list goes on and on.

Top Level Domains in today’s internet

Because of the release of all the domain name extensions by ICANN the original TLD’s have increased in value over the years. They have become the gold standard, as it were and the other domain names have become what are called Sponsored domain names.

To be honest with you, not to say you can’t find or be successful with one of these domain names but, you are far and away much better with a TLD and if you’re in business a .com domain name is just the only way to go.

There are just so many reasons why a .com domain name is the only way to go for business and all other online purposes, but that’s just another discussion for another blog.

As always thank you for reading and if you have any questions please post them blog and we’ll be happy to answer them as quickly and completely as possible.