What are Top-Level Domains?

The first-level set of domain names are the Top-Level Domains, which are also called as TLDS. These Top-Level Domains are registered by Administered, Domain Name Registrars, etc. Internet users encounter Top-Level Domains each time as they access the internet. Top-level domains help in identifying the type of an organization. They contain three or more letters, usually describing the group. It can also be defined as the remaining part of the domain name.

Top-Level Domains includes:

• Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)
• Prominent Domains like “.com, .net, .org, etc.”
• Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

For internet users, it’s not difficult to identify the Top-Level Domains, when they access the Internet. One can choose specific Top-Level Domains as per the nature of the website like educational, traveling, language, commercial, etc. There are Twenty Generic Top-Level Domain Extensions, in which some are highly renowned in comparison to others.

List of Twenty Generic Top-Level Domains

• .aero is used within the air transport sector
• .biz is used for business websites
• .coop for a cooperative group
• .cat for Catalan language and culture
• .com for unrestricted commercial use
• .edu for educational organizations usually at the collegiate level
• .info is utilized by unrestricted informational sites
• .int for international organizations created by a treaty
• .jobs for employment sites
• .mobi represents mobile device websites
• .museum is used by museums
• .name is for families and individuals
• .pro is profession specific
• .net was originally used for network infrastructures only but now is unrestricted
• .org is also currently unrestricted but used to be utilized by organizations only
• .tel is utilized by services that connect between telephones and the internet
• .travel is used by travel agents, hotels, airlines, and any business within the tourism industry
• .gov for areas of the government as well as agencies within a country
• .asia represents individuals, companies as well as organizational groups within the Asia-Pacific geographic location

Country code top-level domains represent different countries and territories. There are currently a few top-level extensions used in many contexts like:

• .dj represents the country Djibouti but is also used by disc jockeys
• .nu is used by the country Niue but also means “now” in the Nordic language

Each country and territory across the globe has a top-level country code like:

• .mx for Mexico
• .fr for France
• .va for Vatican City
• .ca for Canada
• .de for Germany
• .hk for Hong Kong
• .us for United States

Top-level Domain Extensions are an essential part of the URL, which cannot be completed without a Top-level Domain. To use Top-level Domain Extensions has become a norm, because of the expanding arena of Web World and this trend is set to continue in the future as well.

Basically long tail keywords for domain names emerge from a single keyword and are variations of the same. For example, type the word garment on Google Adwords and you will find more than hundreds of keywords that are related in one way or the other to this it, like: Ladies Garment, Garment Bag, Garment Accessories, Hanging Garment Bags and so on. For a garment trader setting up a website, the most common word can be the nature of business itself and it may fetch many results but at the same time it may not be available for naming. In this case, they can opt for the long tail names. You need not worry about the search ability of the name as there would be a substantial number of people looking for it as per their preference. In fact your website has more chances of being noticed by the right people who can directly access it.

Okay. But isn’t niche naming harmful for generating website traffic?

This may be a conflicting thought since most of us know about all the obvious benefits of short naming but you may be surprised to know how search engines play a role in this. When people type a certain word or phrase in the search box they may or may not be accurate, and understanding this, search engines offer numerous options by combining keywords in the results.  So, for someone searching ‘Leather Bags’ on the internet, there will be results showing ‘Leather Designer Bags’, ‘Leather Purses’, ‘Leather Goods’ and even  ‘Bag Makers’ for the term.

Some More Strategies

Another thing that you can do with long tail names is start creating back links from other websites that have shorter domain names. If you can create a chain of long tail domain names that are related to your industry, you have another ace in your hands. This is because one site will lead to the other and the traffic flow will ultimately increase for your main website.

Long tail naming need not be a menace if you can apply it tactically. With short names becoming scarce by the day, this type of domain naming can also work successfully in getting the desired benefits for your business.

Here is a List of major Domain Extensions

Domain extensions of countries

With increasing internet population, list of domain is also getting larger. Best possible collection is presented here, yet you can send comment if we have missed one.