IRIS 42: Information and Research Instruction Suite for two-year colleges

Types of Web Sites

Learn to recognize top-level domains

The one-second technique for getting to know a web site is to look at the URL (the web address) and focus on the top-level domain. That's the part before the first slash, as shown below:

top level domains

The six most-popular (and original) top-level domains are:

.com = this site is commercial; the intent is to sell
.org = this site claims to be an organization
.edu = this is a recognized educational site
.gov = this is a site sponsored by a government agency
.net = network - kind of a catchall.
.mil = military

But wait - there's more! Lots more -- here are just a few:

.biz = business
.info = information
.name = name
.pro = professional
.museum = museums
... and more

There are also country-level domains:

http://www.handgunlaw.us/ (.us = United States)
http://www.fitness.cz/ (.cz = Czech Republic)
http://www.tripadvisor.fr/ (.fr = France)
http://www.police.uk/ (.uk = United Kingdom)

See the full List of country codes at Webopedia

Creative combinations

You might even see sites combining domains, creating a top-level domain and a secondary-level domain, like this:

http://www.airwatch.gov.au/

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