Once you have figured out a name for your ‘domain’ it can be really confusing trying to decide on what should go after the “dot†(i.e. com, net, org, etc…) in your domain name. This part of the domain name is referred to as a top-level domain (TLD) and knowing the difference between each top-level domain is important when choosing your domain name.
Below are the descriptions of the best known top-level domains:
.com – This is the most popular TLD. It is used mainly for US commercial organizations. BUT, in its capacity, it represents the highest standing for any domain name. Anyone can have a ‘.com’, but it is more difficult to think up a unique name that hasn’t already been registered.
.net – This is the second most popular TLD. It generally describes the entity owning the domain name as a network and is used mainly by organizations that provide network connection services.
.gov – Generally used for government agencies.
.ca – intended exclusively fo Canadian citizens and businesses
.biz – This is a new TLD for businesses; ‘.biz’ is intended to be an alternative to the ‘.com’.
.info – This is also new, and is freely available to anyone with a business, government or non-commercial site.