What type of tld is co uk

TryHackMe DNS in Detail

References

What is DNS?

What does DNS Stand for?

DNS (Domain Name System) provides a simple way for us to communicate with devices on the internet without remembering complex numbers.

Answer: Domain Name System

Domain Hierarchy

What is the maximum length of a subdomain?

A subdomain name has the same creation restrictions as a Second-Level Domain, being limited to 63 characters and can only use a-z 0-9 and hyphens (cannot start or end with hyphens or have consecutive hyphens).

Answer: 63

Answer: _

What is the maximum length of a domain name?

Answer: 253

There are two types of TLD, gTLD (Generic Top Level) and ccTLD (Country Code Top Level Domain).

Answer: ccTLD

Record Types

What type of record would be used to advise where to send email?

MX Record

These records resolve to the address of the servers that handle the email for the domain you are querying.

Answer: MX

What type of record handles IPv6 addresses?

AAAA Record

These records resolve to IPv6 addresses, for example 2606:4700:20::681a:be5

Answer: AAAA

Making A Request

What field specifies how long a DNS record should be cached for?

DNS records all come with a TTL (Time To Live) value. This value is a number represented in seconds that the response should be saved for locally until you have to look it up again.

Answer: TTL

What type of DNS Server is usually provided by your ISP?

A Recursive DNS Server is usually provided by your ISP, but you can also choose your own.

Answer: recursive

What type of server holds all the records for a domain?

An authoritative DNS server is the server that is responsible for storing the DNS records for a particular domain name and where any updates to your domain name DNS records would be made.

Answer: authoritative

Practical

Exit fullscreen mode

Answer: shops.myshopify.com

What is the value of the TXT record of website.thm?

Exit fullscreen mode

Answer: THM

What is the numerical priority value for the MX record?

Exit fullscreen mode

Answer: 30

Exit fullscreen mode

Answer: 10.10.10.10

Discussion (0)

For further actions, you may consider blocking this person and/or reporting abuse

What Is a TLD? All You Need to Know About Top Level Domains

Choosing a perfect domain name is one of the main challenges when establishing a solid online presence.

Besides picking the right name, you need to choose a suitable extension from many available options. Such as extension is called a top-level domain (TLD) and it plays a much more crucial role than it may first appear.

In this article, we will uncover the basic concept of a TLD, from its definition, type, and function in search engine optimization (SEO).

What Is a Top-Level Domain?

Closer Look at the Domain Name Structure

In short, a domain name is your website’s address. It is associated with the domain name system (DNS) – a hierarchical naming system that translates domain names into IP addresses.

The domain structure starts from left to right, containing:

There’s also the fully qualified domain name (FQDN), which is the complete version of a domain name that also constitutes the hostname.

Now that you have learned the definition of what a top-level domain means and its position in a URL, let’s look at a list of available top-level domains, their primary purpose, and role in search engine optimization (SEO) practices.

What Is the Purpose of a Top-Level Domain?

The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) developed the domain name system, including a TLD, to make memorizing IP addresses and organizing internet addresses easier.

The first TLD was .arpa. Subsequently, seven new domain extensions were created to provide domain space for other institutions, such as .edu for schools and .com for commercial businesses.

Now, a TLD can represent specific elements of a website, including its purpose, owner, or geographical location.

Therefore, people can sometimes get a clue what the site is about without seeing its content. For example, a .gov TLD means that it is one of the United States government sites, while .online domains suggest that your business is available online now.

TLDs are also useful for distinguishing different websites with the same second-level domain. WordPress would be one example.

There are two WordPress domains – WordPress.org and WordPress.com. Each has a different extension, indicating what the site is about:

Domain endings are also helpful for website localization. Some companies use a country code top-level domain (ccTLD), like a .us or .co.uk domain, to localize their business sites and adjust the content for every geographical segment.

Some ccTLDs may also be applicable for general use. For instance, .io was previously a ccTLD for the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), but now it is a commonly used extension among tech companies.

Before starting your domain registration, check whether your desired domain is available. If not, use the domain name search tool to see available domain names that use different TLDs.

Domain Name Checker

Instantly check domain name availability.

Let’s say you search for www.useddomain.com and find out that it’s already registered. Usually, the domain checker will offer alternative options with the same second-level domain name but different TLDs, such as www.useddomain.net or www.useddomain.org, for example.

Different Types of Top-Level Domains

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has established five categories of original top-level domains:

Let’s take a deeper look at these types of TLDs.

Generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD)

gTLDs are the most common domain extensions that anyone can register. Some of the most popular generic TLDs include:

After ICANN has changed its policy and opened registration for new gTLDs, around 1,200 new extensions were added to the top-level domain list in the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) Root Zone Database.

Recent top-level domains include:

These generic TLDs help users associate website addresses with the industries and brands. For example, registry.google URL address makes it clear that this domain name belongs to Google.

There are also lots of new gTLDs with generic words, such as:

Despite the generic association of gTLDs and their usage, most of them do not always serve those types of purposes.

ICANN does not strictly regulate domain registration with gTLDs as the internet evolves. Anyone can use a top-level domain extension whenever it is available.

For example, domainname.org would usually be associated with non-profit organizations. However, as .org is one of the unrestricted gTLDs, any site can use this top-level domain example.

Sponsored Top-Level Domain (sTLD)

An sTLD is a TLD restricted to a specific entity or owner. There are private organizations sponsoring sTLDs, and registering them requires formal authorization to prove that a person has the right to use them.

Unlike a huge number of gTLDs, there are only 14 sTLDs on the IANA’s list, including:

Country Code Top-Level Domain (ccTLD)

A ccTLD represents a geographical area from which an internet address originated. This is a two-letter code defined by ISO 3166-1 alpha 2.

There are more than 300 ccTLDs in the IANA’s list. That is more than the number of countries available because ccTLDs also represent sovereign states and dependent territories. A few examples include:

In 2010, ICANN announced the first ccTLDs with non-Latin characters, known as internationalized ccTLDs (IDN ccTLDs). These new TLDs include Arabic, Chinese, Cyrillic, and Hebrew languages.

Most of the ccTLDs are available only to the corresponding countries’ residents, but some are public and available to purchase anywhere.

One of the examples is .fm – a ccTLD for the Federated States of Micronesia. As it is usually associated with radio broadcasting format, radio-related websites may also use domain names with extensions .fm.

Infrastructure Top-Level Domain

The only infrastructure TLD is ARPA. It stands for Address and Routing Parameter Area, and IANA reserves it for Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Therefore, only management of network infrastructure is allowed to use such a TLD.

Test Top-Level Domain (tTLD)

These extensions are dedicated for local testing and documentation purposes only and cannot be installed into the global DNS.

The four tTLDs include:

Do TLDs Affect SEO?

Search engines rank websites based on content relevance regardless of their TLDs. Therefore, a TLD does not have a direct impact on SEO.

However, a TLD can affect SEO by influencing visitors’ actions. If a person uses an unusual TLD, people may not remember or mistype the domain, resulting in fewer inbound links or landing on a different site.

A TLD can also impact a click-through rate.

Each TLD has a different level of trustworthiness, and it may affect people’s decision to visit a website. For example, if people use a .xyz domain for their sites, visitors might perceive it as less credible even though the sites rank well.

Meanwhile, ccTLDs can help with international SEO when it comes to geo-targeting.

A ccTLD tells the search engines what country or region the content is targeted. Then, search engines can prioritize these locations and display the content to the most relevant audience, ranking the site higher on SERPs for that area.

Can I Change Website TLD?

It is possible to change a TLD by setting up a URL redirect. This process will redirect all traffic from the old TLD to the new one and tell search engines that the change is permanent.

Use a plugin like Redirection or a redirect feature in your hosting provider’s control panel to add a redirect.

Pro Tip

Be careful when migrating your WordPress site to a new address. Ensure that you back up the site data to avoid errors and traffic loss.

An alternative is to use multiple TLDs that direct traffic to the primary domain name. For example, Microsoft purchases several domain names, like microsoft.shop and microsoft.sucks, and leads the visitors to microsoft.com.

Conclusion

A top-level domain (TLD) is a suffix located after the final dot of a domain name. TLDs help people identify the site’s purpose, owner, and geographic location without seeing the content, such as .com for commercial websites and .us domain name for American sites.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), an organization maintaining TLDs, divide the extensions into five categories:

Choose the type of TLD that suits your site best, provides credibility to your business, and helps your SEO efforts.

What Is a Top-Level Domain FAQ

This section will answer most common questions people have about a top-level domain (TLD).

Who Manages Top-Level Domains?

The ICANN is responsible for managing top-level domains across the internet. Then, it delegates the responsibility to specific institutions, like Verisign for .com and Public Interest Registry (PIR) for .org.

Can I Get Any TLD I Want?

Anyone can use common extensions, like .com and .net, but only certain organizations can apply to sponsored TLDs, like .gov and .edu, or country-code TLDs, such as .us and .jp. It is also possible for organizations with specific requirements to make and operate new generic TLDs.

Why Is a TLD Important?

A TLD can indicate a site’s purpose, such as .store domain names for eCommerce businesses. It also gives you more brandable and creative domain names with over 1,200 options. For example, Taco Bell uses ta.co, and Papa John’s chooses pj.pizza.

What Are The Most Popular Top-Level Domains?

.com is the most common TLD, accounting for 54% of the global share, and other popular TLDs are .ru and .org with a global share of 5% and 4.3%. Due to its popularity, .com is the most trusted TLD – making it easy to remember a URL better.

How to Choose Which Top Level Domain to Use

Buying a domain name is exciting. It means you’re taking the first steps to establish yourself and create a professional website. But, it can also be overwhelming.

Not only do you have to find an available domain name, but you have to choose between dozens of top-level domains (TLDs) such as:

The list goes on!

Picking the right TLD is just as important as choosing the rest of your domain name. You want the best option for your business type to establish trust with your target audience and one that’s memorable.

In this guide, you’ll learn about the different TLD types, which ones you can and can’t buy, and how to know what type is the best fit for your business.

What Is a Top-Level Domain?

A top-level domain (or TLD) is the last segment of a domain name.

For example, the TLD for NeilPatel.com is “.com.”

.com is just one of the many options available, though.

The Different Types of Top-Level Domains

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) officially recognizes three types of TLDs.

1. gTLD: Generic Top-Level Domains

The gTLD contains the most common top-level domains, and anyone can register most of these domain extensions.

Some of the generic top-level domains in this category include:

In 2011, ICANN extended gTLDs to companies and organizations. It helps brands register their name as a domain extension.

A few real-life examples are:

Businesses can also register generic TLDs around their industry niche.

2. sTLD: Sponsored Top-Level Domains

An sTLD are domains sponsored by a specific entity like a business, government, or other groups.

In this category, you’ll find domain extensions for:

3. ccTLD: Country Code Top-Level Domains

The last type of top-level domain is ccTLD. These domain extensions are reserved for countries, sovereign states, and territories.

These codes are two letters long and represent the country or territories’ abbreviated name.

However, ccTLDs are not only for countries. Businesses use ccTLDs to geotarget users in different markets.

How to Choose the Perfect Top-Level Domain

Think of your domain name as your brand’s search representative.

Some TLDs may hinder your branding because of spam associations, while others could improve your search result rankings.

Below, we’ll unpack some of the most common TLDs to help you select the perfect domain name for your business.

Some Top-Level Domains Aren’t Available to Everyone

Not all domain names are available for anyone to buy. These are restricted top-level domains known as rTLDs.

To obtain an rTLD, you need to meet specific criteria laid out by the TLD’s registry.

These controls help prevent fraud and forgery and give users a sense of security when using these sites.

How to Buy an rTLD

If you meet the requirements for some of the most common rTLDs, here are the steps to take to purchase them:

However, there’s a catch.

If your perfect domain name is unavailable, not all hope is lost. There are strategies you can use before settling on a complete rebrand. For instance, you could try to buy the domain from its current owner or use a reasonable variation on your company’s name.

If your business has nothing to do with tech, it usually won’t be the best option. An excellent example of an exception to the rule is behance.net. The website is an online design community and has nothing to do with providing internet or database services.

However, it works for their brand because it is a network for designers and clients to find each other.

Ready to buy a domain name? Fortunately, it’s usually a straightforward process.

Two of my favorite domain registrars are Bluehost and Namecheap.

Both sites are easy and straightforward to use, though they serve different purposes. Bluehost provides hosting and other services, while Namecheap is strictly for buying domains.

How Does Your Top-Level Domain Affect SEO?

Besides branding, choosing a TLD has an impact on your SEO. Here are the main things you need to consider when deciding on a TLD domain.

Public Perception and Spam

Unfortunately, some TLDs are associated with nefarious online behavior. If you use them, Google might assume your site isn’t safe, and you’ll never make it to the top of search results.

According to Spamhaus, these are the TLDs with the spam worst reputations:

Besides search engine rankings, using an alternative domain extension can affect your click-through rate (CTR). For example, if your target audience is unfamiliar with the TLD, they might not view your site as safe, and you won’t get traffic.

In the same study from GrowthBadger, these were the TLDs that have the lowest trustworthiness, factoring in things other than spam:

Using an Industry-Specific TLD

Depending on your industry, using an industry-specific TLD could boost your SEO.

Using an industry-specific TLD tells Google and people what your site is all about, which can help improve your rankings and CTR.

Examples of sites using industry TLDs:

Geotargeting

Is your business tied to a specific location?

You might get an SEO boost by using geotargeting in your TLD.

It signals to Google that your site serves a particular country or city, and it could make your pages visible to people searching from those locations.

You can also use TLD geotargeting if you have a business that operates in multiple countries worldwide.

For example, Amazon has:

Conclusion

A top-level domain is an integral part of your website’s structure. Before you buy one, take the time to look at the different TLD options and select the best one to represent your business online.

If you need to change your TLD or domain name later, you can. But, you’ll need to 301 redirect the old domain and every page to the new one, and it can take up to six months for your traffic to recover.

It’s much easier to start your website on the right foot than have to go through a site migration process, hindering your bottom line and SEO content marketing efforts.

Which top-level domain will you choose for your business?

See How My Agency Can Drive Massive Amounts of Traffic to Your Website

Share

Hey, I’m Neil Patel. I’m determined to make a business grow. My only question is, will it be yours?

About Neil Patel

He is the co-founder of NP Digital. The Wall Street Journal calls him a top influencer on the web, Forbes says he is one of the top 10 marketers, and Entrepreneur Magazine says he created one of the 100 most brilliant companies. Neil is a New York Times bestselling author and was recognized as a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 30 by President Obama and a top 100 entrepreneur under the age of 35 by the United Nations.

Hey, I’m Neil Patel. I’m determined to make a business grow. My only question is, will it be yours?

What Is a TLD? Top-Level Domains Explained

A TLD, short for top-level domain, is the last segment of a domain name – the part that comes after the final dot. The most common example is .com, but there’s a whole wide world of different TLDs, which we’ll dig into in this article.

What’s a TLD Domain? (Quick Reference Guide):

TLD is the acronym used for top-level domain. It’s the last segment of a domain name after the final dot.

A great example of a TDL is: .com

The IANA officially recognizes three types of TLDs:

Your TLD plays an important role in the Domain Name System (DNS).

You can change your WordPress site’s TDL by taking advantage of 301 redirect.

What is a TLD? Explained in More Detail

In order to understand what makes it the “top-level”, it’s helpful to dig into the full structure of your domain name.

If you look at any domain name, you’ll see a series of words, letters, or numbers connected by dots. For example, the Kinsta hosting dashboard is located at my.kinsta.com – three words separated by two dots.

Each “dot” represents a different segment and helps computers (like a web browser) find the proper content. Furthermore, each segment is a different “level”. You start at the top-level (hence TLD) and move up in numbers. For example, going back to the URL of the Kinsta hosting dashboard, you’d get:

In theory, you could have even more levels than that, though you’ll rarely see that.

Kinsta spoiled me so bad that I demand that level of service from every provider now. We also try to be at that level with our SaaS tool support.

Suganthan Mohanadasan from @Suganthanmn

So when you register your domain name at a domain registrar, you’re choosing both the second-level domain (e.g. “kinsta”) and the top-level domain (e.g. “.com”). Then, from your hosting dashboard, you can add additional levels (like the third-level subdomain “my”).

In addition to helping you brand your website, your TLD plays an important role in the Domain Name System (DNS).

There Are Three Different “Types” of TLDs

Up until this point, we’ve been referring to TLDs as a single unified category. However, there are actually three types of TLDs, as assigned by the IANA/ICANN.

The IANA officially recognizes these three types of TLDs:

In the past, the selection of TLDs was much more limited. But thanks to some recent changes in policy, there are now well over a thousand TLDs to choose from across these three core groups, with the vast majority fitting into the gTLD category.

1. gTLD – Generic Top-Level Domains

The gTLD category contains all the most recognizable TLDs. That is, this is the category with common options like:

Beyond these well-known names, you’ll also find other fairly popular generic options like:

While these generic domains are supposed to be loosely tied to the purpose of a website – for example, .org is for organizations – anyone can register most of these domain names.

2011, ICANN opened the door for companies and organizations to register their own gTLDs, which greatly expanded the list of gTLDs and explains why we now also have gTLDs like:

In addition to registering gTLDs for business names, organizations also registered more “generic” niche gTLDs like:

And you’ll also find gTLDs for specific geographic areas. These are sometimes called GeoTLDs, though they’re really just a subset of gTLDs. Examples here are:

Prior to this change in ICANN policy, there were only 22 available gTLDs. Now, at the time that we’re writing this post, there are over 1,200 different gTLDs available. You can view them all at the IANA website.

2. sTLD – Sponsored Top-Level Domains

The sTLD group contains TLDs that are sponsored by a specific entity, which could be a business, government, or other groups.

Some of the most common examples here are:

However, you’ll also find smaller sTLDs like:

In contrast to the huge number of gTLDs, there are only 14 sTLDs at the time that we’re writing this article.

3. ccTLD – Country Code Top-Level Domains

ccTLDs are top-level domains that represent specific countries. A partial list of common examples is:

In total, there are

312 different ccTLDs. Some enforce residency restrictions in order to purchase a domain in that area, while others are public and can be purchased by people from anywhere in the world.

This latter fact has led to the “off-label” use for some attractive ccTLDs. For example, the .io TLD is especially popular with tech companies and startups. However, despite the tech-sounding name, .io is actually a ccTLD assigned to the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Side note – we would not recommend purchasing a .io domain name at the moment, because there’s a chance that this TLD might be going away.

In addition to helping you tell human visitors what country your website serves, Google can use ccTLDs to help geotarget your site.

Because of this, you’ll find many large brands using ccTLDs to localize their sites for different markets. For example:

Don’t worry, though, Google is also smart enough to figure out that your .io domain name doesn’t only serve the Indian Ocean! In fact, because there are some ccTLDs that are commonly used for non-geographic reasons, Google has a specific list of ccTLDs that they treat as gccTLDs (Generic Country Code Top-Level Domain).

In addition to the .io domain, Google’s list of gccTLDs includes other options like:

What is the Purpose of Having Different TLDs?

The general idea is that having all these different TLDs can help you communicate information about your website through your domain name.

Let’s look at an example that’s near and dear to our hearts – WordPress.

There are actually two different WordPress sites, which has been a source of eternal confusion for new WordPress users. Each has a different TLD, which actually does a pretty good job of indicating what the site is about:

In the real world, things don’t always fit so neatly.

For example, we already talked about how startups and tech companies use .io domains, despite .io actually being a ccTLD for the British Indian Ocean Territory.

Who’s Responsible for Managing TLDs?

ICANN – short for the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers – is a non-profit organization that’s responsible for managing the TLDs via the IANA – short for Internet Assigned Numbers Authority.

That is, the IANA is a division of ICANN.

Additionally, ICANN/IANA delegate responsibility for some TLDs to other organizations.

Does Google Care Which TLD You Use? Does TLD Affect SEO?

The short answer is that, no, the TLD you choose does not affect SEO. According to Matt Cutts, Google just tries to find the best content, regardless of TLD.

With that being said, the TLD you choose might have some indirect effects on SEO. For example, if you choose an odd, unknown TLD, visitors might have trouble remembering your site, which could lead to fewer inbound links. GrowthBadger conducted a study comparing top-level domains and found that .com domains are 33% more memorable.

Similarly, if you use an unfamiliar TLD, visitors might be less likely to click on your site in the search results due to a perception of spam, which could lower your CTR rate.

.com TLD

Can You Change Your WordPress Site’s TLD?

Yes, you can change your TLD by setting up something called a 301 redirect. This essentially redirects all traffic from your old TLD to your new TLD and tells Google and other crawlers that the change is permanent.

However, we’d recommend trying to avoid this if at all possible as it will likely have some negative effect on your SEO and traffic, at least in the short term.

Save time, costs and maximize site performance with:

All of that and much more, in one plan with no long-term contracts, assisted migrations, and a 30-day-money-back-guarantee. Check out our plans or talk to sales to find the plan that’s right for you.

What is a TLD (top level domain)? – SEO FAQs Simply Answered

This article is the beginners guide into the realms of Top Level Domains, which will answer all your questions on what is a TLD.

If you have ever stared at the “TLD” abbreviation and wondered what it is. Wonder no more – here is the answer.

What is a TLD?

Top-level domain (TLD) refers to the last segment of a domain name or the part that follows immediately after the “dot” symbol.

There are 5 types of TLDs:

What Is the Purpose of a TLD?

TLDs serve as the instant notification to see what the domain is all about.

For example, when you see “.edu” domain it’s an instant reminder that the page belongs to a university or another educational institution.

What Are the Different TLDs?

If you are looking to find which TLD will better suit your business here are all the categories explained in detail.

Choosing the right TLD is of very little importance when it comes to SEO but it helps your potential customers to identify what your business is all about.

So spend a little time when choosing the domain’s TLD and don’t buy a “.co.uk” domain if your business is located in Australia.

Generic Top-level Domains (gTLDs)

Here are the generic or international TLDs that you can choose from and info for what businesses these domains work the best:

In 1998 there were added 472 gTLDs that you can choose from for every international business imaginable and the full list is available here.

Country Code Top-level Domains (ccTLD)

There are as many country code TLDs as there are countries.

Therefore, we will not list the full list.

Sponsored Top-Level Domains (sTLD)

There are very low chances that your business belongs to one of these groups Nevertheless, if you do, here are the TLDs you could choose:

Infrastructure Top-Level Domain

Under this category, there is only one TLD – .arpa

This TLD is used exclusively for technical infrastructure purposes.

While the name was originally the acronym for the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA), the funding organization in the United States that developed one of the precursors of the Internet (ARPANET), it now stands for Address and Routing Parameter Area.

Test top-level domains

The Internet Engineering Task Force reserved the DNS labels:

These TLDs cannot be installed into the root zone of the Domain Name System.

The reason for reservation of these top-level domain names is to reduce the likelihood of conflict and confusion. This allows the use of these names for either documentation purposes or in local testing scenarios.

I hope now you know what is a TLD

To re-cap, each TLD includes an independent registry controlled by a specific organization. Which is managed under the guidance of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment section below.

If you have other Search Engine Related Questions visit our SEO FAQ section.