DT25014 Understanding a Web Site Address. V01 041225

 A Top Level Domain (TLD). The last part of a web address (URL) after the dot.

🌐 Common Domain Endings and What They Stand For

🏛️ Traditional / Original TLDs

.com

• Stands for commercial

• Used by businesses, now used for almost anything

.org

• Stands for organization

• Originally for non-profits, now open to anyone

.net

• Stands for network

• Originally for networking/tech companies, now widely used

.edu

• Stands for education

• Restricted to accredited U.S. educational institutions

.gov

• Stands for government

• Restricted to U.S. government entities

.mil

• Stands for military

• Restricted to the U.S. military

🌏 Country Code Domains (ccTLDs)

These are two-letter domains assigned to countries.

.us — United States

.uk — United Kingdom

.ca — Canada

.au — Australia

.de — Germany (Deutschland)

.jp — Japan

.in — India

.cn — China

.cc — Cocos (Keeling) Islands

.tv — Tuvalu (popular for video sites)

.io — British Indian Ocean Territory (popular in tech)

Even though these belong to countries, many are used globally.

🤖 Newer / Themed TLDs

Created in the last decade to allow more naming options.

.app — Apps / developers

.ai — Artificial intelligence (actually Anguilla’s ccTLD)

.tech — Technology sites

.blog — Blogs

.shop — Online stores

.dev — Developers

.design — Designers / creative work

Great — here’s a clear breakdown of how a URL is structured, including TLDs, second-level domains, and subdomains.

🌐 How a URL Is Structured

Example URL:

https://blog.example.com/page1

Let’s break it down:

1️⃣ Protocol — https://

This tells the browser how to communicate with the website.

Common protocols:

• http:// – standard web traffic

• https:// – secure (encrypted) traffic

• ftp:// – file transfer

• mailto: – opens email

2️⃣ Top-Level Domain (TLD) — .com

The last part of the domain name.

Examples:

• .com

• .org

• .net

• .edu

• .uk

• .cc

3️⃣ Second-Level Domain (SLD) — example

This is the main name of the website, chosen by the owner.

Examples:

• google.com → google = SLD

• amazon.com → amazon = SLD

• perma.cc → perma = SLD

The SLD + TLD together make the domain name.

4️⃣ Subdomain — blog.

A smaller section inside a domain.

Examples:

• www.example.com → www is a subdomain

• shop.example.com

• support.apple.com

• mail.google.com

Subdomains are optional and are used to organize services.

5️⃣ Path — /page1

This tells the server which page or file to show.

Examples:

• /about

• /products/item1

• /images/photo.jpg

🧩 Putting it all together

In https://blog.example.com/page1:

Part Meaning

https:// protocol

blog subdomain

example second-level domain

.com top-level domain

/page1 path

If you want, I can also explain:

• what DNS is

• how domain registration works

• how URLs differ from URIs