Domain is simply the identification method of a specific location on the web which is normally referred by an IP address. But remembering numbers like 123.214.32.145 is not easy. So, the domain names came into existence that connects the Server (Host) to the IP address. By entering the domain names into the Address Bar will output the same Web Page which you would get by entering the IP address. So, it can also be defined as a replacement for the IP address of a specific location on the Web. For example, thetechhacker.com is a domain name that is the replacement for our IP address.
Usually, Domain Names are used in URLs which links to a Web Page. For example, https://thetechhacker.com/2016/08/08/what-is-dedicated-hosting/ is a URL where thetechhacker.com is the domain name. So that, different pages on a Website could be accessed by navigating to the different URLs listed on the Website or by entering them manually to the Browser.
Every Domain Name has a suffix in the form of TLD (Top Level Domain.) In ‘thetechhacker.com,’ ‘com’ is the suffix of the domain name ‘thetechhacker.’ Apart from this, some domain names have SLD (Second Level Domain.) For example, ‘.co.uk’ is a Second Level Domain which is a combination of ‘.com’ for commercial business and ‘.uk’ for the UK country target. Below given are some of the TLDs and SLDs that are common.
- com – commercial business
- net – Network organizations
- edu – Educational institutions
- gov – Government agencies
- org – Organizations (Nonprofit)
- mil – Military
- ca – Canada (Country Targetted)
- in – India (Country Targetted)
- .co.uk – United Kingdom (Country Targetted Commercial Business)
In the above list, you saw some Country Targetted TLDs. That means such domains will have a greater impact on the targetted country than the non-targetted ones. Such domains are widely used by business owners and organizations that are just known in a specific country and has not yet been widespread to other countries. So, they can attract customers very fastly by Ranking higher in Search Engines.
In short, the internet works based on the IP addresses. As it is very difficult to remember such a digit variation, the Domain came into existence that translates IP address to an easily recognizable format.