Top level domains... now what the heck are these and why should I read this post?
Let me answer the second question first...
Why should you read this post?
You will be surprised to know top level domains (TLDs) are encountered by us every time we surf the internet. Equally surprising is the fact that many people are unaware of what they mean (especially those not in the IT sector) and how useful they can be in figuring out the nature of the website (without even visiting it!).
Moreover many websites have names which might give a false or wrong impression, prompting you to click the link. But due to the strict control on TLDs their true nature can be found by just looking at the FULL address.
So read on, it might save you a few useless clicks when you are looking for that important piece of information!
What is a Top Level Domain (TLD)?
Generally domain names (or main website addresses) are of the following format:
Moreover many websites have names which might give a false or wrong impression, prompting you to click the link. But due to the strict control on TLDs their true nature can be found by just looking at the FULL address.
So read on, it might save you a few useless clicks when you are looking for that important piece of information!
What is a Top Level Domain (TLD)?
Generally domain names (or main website addresses) are of the following format:
www.WEBSITE_NAME.X X X
(e.g. www.yahoo.com, www.google.com, www.amazon.com)OR
www.WEBSITE_NAME._ _ _.X X
(e.g. www.yahoo.co.in, www.google.co.uk, www.homeoffice.gov.uk)
Now top level domain is the bit (in italics in the examples above) after the main website name (which is highlight/bold).
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority classifies top level domains into three categories but here we will discuss only the two important ones which you are most likely to encounter on a daily basis:
1) Country-code top level domains (ccTLD): used by countries as top level domains. Used by country specific versions of various sites. For example Google UK has the following address:
www.google.co.uk where the ccTLD is .uk similarly for Google India the address is www.google.co.in where the ccTLD is .in. This shows that the site is particular to that country.
Why do you need to bother with country specific sites?
An example to answer the above question: If you reside in UK and you go to Amazon.com (the US version of the site) it will not sell you many of the available products and ask you instead to go to Amazon.co.uk and purchase the product from that site. This is due to copyright and other legal restrictions.
2) Generic top level domains (gTLD): used by particular type of organisation. For example .mil (as in military) is used by the US Armed forces for their websites (http://www.navy.mil/ - US Navy). Similarly .com (as in commercial) is widely used by companies. The gTLD .gov (as in government) is used by US goverment bodies (e.g. www.fbi.gov - The Federal Bureau of Investigation)
These are often combined with ccTLDs to give country and role specific sites. For example all UK government websites end with .gov.uk and for Indian government websites it is .gov.in (http://www.indianrail.gov.in - website of Indian Railways) or for country specific commercial sites such as Amazon.co.uk (.co is same as .com both standing for commercial websites) and eBay.co.in.
USING TLDs
TIP 1:
When looking for government/country related information (such as passport information, visa, tourist information etc.) concentrate on websites with addresses ending with .gov.XX or .gov (for USA) specific to that country. Therefore if you are looking for information on Australia start with sites having names ending with .gov.au. Many commercial websites have an official sounding name such as in the ad highlighted by the red box in the image below.
The website name is www.indianvisaheadoffice.co.uk
What strikes a casual user is the main website name: indianvisaheadoffice which may be mistaken as a Government of India website especially if the user is in a hurry and doesn't read the ad carefully (which doesn't clarify that it is NOT affiliated with the Indian Government and that it is a commercial website!).
But the FULL ADDRESS gives it away! Looking at the TLD we see it is .co.uk which means it is a COMMERCIAL (.co) website specifically for the UK (.uk)
The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority classifies top level domains into three categories but here we will discuss only the two important ones which you are most likely to encounter on a daily basis:
1) Country-code top level domains (ccTLD): used by countries as top level domains. Used by country specific versions of various sites. For example Google UK has the following address:
www.google.co.uk where the ccTLD is .uk similarly for Google India the address is www.google.co.in where the ccTLD is .in. This shows that the site is particular to that country.
Why do you need to bother with country specific sites?
An example to answer the above question: If you reside in UK and you go to Amazon.com (the US version of the site) it will not sell you many of the available products and ask you instead to go to Amazon.co.uk and purchase the product from that site. This is due to copyright and other legal restrictions.
2) Generic top level domains (gTLD): used by particular type of organisation. For example .mil (as in military) is used by the US Armed forces for their websites (http://www.navy.mil/ - US Navy). Similarly .com (as in commercial) is widely used by companies. The gTLD .gov (as in government) is used by US goverment bodies (e.g. www.fbi.gov - The Federal Bureau of Investigation)
These are often combined with ccTLDs to give country and role specific sites. For example all UK government websites end with .gov.uk and for Indian government websites it is .gov.in (http://www.indianrail.gov.in - website of Indian Railways) or for country specific commercial sites such as Amazon.co.uk (.co is same as .com both standing for commercial websites) and eBay.co.in.
USING TLDs
TIP 1:
When looking for government/country related information (such as passport information, visa, tourist information etc.) concentrate on websites with addresses ending with .gov.XX or .gov (for USA) specific to that country. Therefore if you are looking for information on Australia start with sites having names ending with .gov.au. Many commercial websites have an official sounding name such as in the ad highlighted by the red box in the image below.
The website name is www.indianvisaheadoffice.co.ukWhat strikes a casual user is the main website name: indianvisaheadoffice which may be mistaken as a Government of India website especially if the user is in a hurry and doesn't read the ad carefully (which doesn't clarify that it is NOT affiliated with the Indian Government and that it is a commercial website!).
But the FULL ADDRESS gives it away! Looking at the TLD we see it is .co.uk which means it is a COMMERCIAL (.co) website specifically for the UK (.uk)
TIP 2:
When looking for products look on the country specific website first (if present). Thus if you are looking for a book and you reside in UK, search Amazon.co.uk first. All the top retailers and brands have country specific websites (for major countries). For an accurate idea of products available in your country go to the country specific website first!
Usually the smaller brands and retailers do not have country specific websites, instead they operate out of a single .com address with or without country specific sections in the website (an example would be www.WEBSITE_NAME.com/uk/some_page.html - pointing to UK specific webpage within a standard commercial website).
Don't worry if you type in the country specific address and the browser takes you to a .com version of the site. Most probably the country specific domain points to the same site with a redirection to the country specific content.
TIP 3:
If you are still confused about a particular website then go to http://www.who.is and type in the full website address to find out registration information about the domain name.
Click here to view the WHOIS information about my website (www.pisceslab.com)
FINALLY
A full list of ccTLDs and gTLDs can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Internet_top-level_domains
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