Choosing the right domain name is critical to starting in the best possible way, it is an important step in creating a website because it represents the online identity and should be chosen carefully to be easily to remember and find, unique and impactful.
Second and third-level domains play an important role in this regard. Not to forget, however, is the function of the top-level domain.
When choosing a domain name for a website, it is important to understand the difference between first, second and third level domains.
These three levels affect not only the appearance of the domain name, but also thevisibility of the site on search engines and brand image.
What is a domain?
When you want to access a website or eCommerce via the address bar of a browser such as Safari, Firefox or Google Chrome, you type in the relative domain address.
The Internet connection is made through the TCP/IP protocol stack and the (DNS)domain name system.
The TCP/IP protocol means that every computer, every mobile device and every Web service available via the Internet has a well-defined IP address, such as 93.184.216.34.
The DNS translates these addresses, using name servers, into readable domains, such as www.example.ch.
As stated above, the domain name is important because it represents a company or a business. And it must be chosen well, with the same care with which one chooses a business email address (see “How to create a business email address”).
What is a top-level domain (TLD) and what is it for
Top-level domains, or TLDs for short, represent the highest level of name resolution in the hierarchy of the domain name system.
The top-level domain identifies a specific territory or activity or subject area, and corresponds to the last part of a web address, at the far right of the web address. Thus it is the extension that closes the URL and is not followed by any dot.
In the domain example, www.example.ch, the top-level domain is the part of the .ch address. But it can also be www.example.com or www.example.net.
In the first case, these are ccTLD (country code top-level domains or domains), as, for example, in the case of .it, .fr, .es, .uk, .us domains indicating the geographical areas of Italy, France, Spain, Great Britain, and the United States of America. ccTLDs always consist of two letters.
In the second case, these are instead gTLD (generic top-level domains or generic top-level domains) used by organizations, businesses and companies to identify their scope of activity: .com, .org, .net, .edu, .gov, .mil, etc.
What is a second-level domain
A second-level domain is the name that you can freely choose and is a very important component of the web address, both because of the impact it has to make on people and from an SEO point of view.
In fact, the second-level domain can better describe the kind of activity or content of a site, and contain a combination of some keywords to describe the activity.
Taking the example of the domain www.example.ch, the second level is “example” and identifies the subject, product, brand, company or service.
For example, in www.artera.net, “artera” is the second-level domain and is the company name.
What is a third-level domain
The third-level domain, known as the subdomain, is a subordinate level to the domain name located before the second-level domain.
The function of a third-level domain is to organize the content of the website or eCommerce, tocreate specific sections (such as blog, forum, faq, etc.). For example, any dedicated “blog” and “faq” sections, connoted by the third-level domains: “blog.artera.net”, “faq.artera.net”.
In the domain example www.example.ch, the most popular subdomain www. Alternatively, and increasingly popular today, subdomains with this structure can be used:
- 3rd level domain → en.example.ch
- it.example.ch
- de.example.ch.
In the specific case, these subdomains indicatethe different language versions of the “example” website. In the case of “en,” this third-level domain identifies English-language content.
But for country-coded second-level domains, such as “.co” in example.co.uk, the actual domain name (“example”) becomes the third-level domain.
A subdomain of this becomes a fourth-level domain. In theory, the number of domain levels is unlimited. However, in order to remember an Internet address well, it is preferable to limit it to the three levels.
How to choose the right domain type or domain name?
The rule to follow is to not complicate the structure of the website address. The domain should be chosen to match the brand, be tracked by search engines and be remembered by people.
Here are some tips for choosing a domain name:.
- choose a top-level domain corresponding to the kind of business, geographic location (.it) or topic of the website. For example, if you choose .store, both visitors and Google will infer that the website is associated with an electronic store. At least, this is expected.
- Choose a short and simple domain name that is easy to remember
- Avoid special characters and numbers that can complicate the domain name.
- Check the availability of the domain name.
- Compare: before taking action, even if the domain type convinces, it is good to ask for an opinion to see if the domain name convinces, you understand it well, how memorable it can be.
