Industry Jargon Getting You Down? We Decipher The Most Popular Hosting Terms

If you’re new to the world of domain names and web hosting, the number of codes and acronyms thrown around can be more than a little disorientating. When you see terms like TLD and ccTLD, you’re probably wondering if all this web hosting business is outside of your domain, as it were. Don’t panic – these terms aren’t as complicated as they sound.

What is TLD?

TLD stands for top-level domain. That may sound a bit intimidating, but it’s actually quite a simple concept. When you look at a website name – take hostingaustralia.com.au, for example – the word that comes after the first full-stop is the top-level domain. In the case of Hosting Australia, the TLD is .com – but not all websites have the same TLD.

Generally, the TLD is used to describe the purpose and nature of the website. It can also be used to describe the geographical origin of the website. For example, .co.uk is the TLD for many UK-based websites.

There are particular guidelines that restrict the type of TLD you can use for your website. The most popular TLDs are .com, .net and .org, but there are a range of other TLDs available, from .edu, .org and .gov. The latter TLDs are effective at demonstrating the purpose and nature of the website, showing that they are either an education-related site, an organisation or a government body website.

For some of these TLDs, a specific registration process is necessary to qualify. Not any organisation can use a TLD like .edu or .museum – they have to belong to the particular group in question and prove it.

What is ccTLD?

A ccTLD is similar to the top-level domain concept, but stands for country-code top-level domain. These are used to show the website visitor exactly where in the world the website is based. In some cases, users can register a website to a ccTLD without actually living in the country in question (.co for Colombia is an example of this), but other states require residency in order to qualify for their country’s ccTLD. For example, if you want to register a website in the EU, using the ‘.eu’ ccTLD, you have to be a resident of a European Union state.

What is a Subdomain?

A subdomain allows you to create a new website with original content using the domain that you’ve already purchased. For example, if your original website is www.subdomain.com, you could create a subdomain that replaces the ‘www’ in the title with a new subdomain name, like ‘info.subdomain.com.’ This strategy allows you to expand your web presence without investing in a new domain.

It may seem complicated to grasp web concepts and utilise them for your business, but we’re here to help. Contact Hosting Australia for all the web hosting tips, development and support you need to succeed.