A top-level domain is the segment of a domain that immediately follows the last dot symbol in a domain name. It has the highest level in the hierarchical Domain Name System of the Internet.
For example, for app.ahrefs.com, com is the top-level domain, ahrefs is the second level and app is third-level.
Each top-level domain is managed by an independent organization under the guidance of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). There are four types of top-level domains, which include:
In 2011, ICANN changed the domain name system, which expanded the original gTLDs from 22 to over 1,200. The update to the naming system allowed for more innovative generic extensions such as .agency or even .beer.
Yes, top-level domains are important for SEO, but keywords in your top-level domain will not improve rankings. In general, top-level domains specific to a country or region (ccTLDs) tend to rank better in local search results than generic top-level domains (gTLDs).
In addition, there are some top-level domains (such as .xyz, .cn, or .biz) associated with spam and black hat SEO tactics. These can negatively impact the trust and reliability of users visiting your site.
As a general rule of thumb, when choosing your website’s domain, choose .com, .org, or .net as the top-level domain. According to Statistsa, these three are the most common TLDs as of January 2022 and will safely meet every visitor’s expectations.
When getting creative with your website’s top-level domain, be careful with ccTLDs. Some websites may choose a gTLD that’s actually a registered country-code top-level domain. For example, .li in paper.li is technically the country top-level domain for Liechtenstein.
If the website isn’t targeting that country, it could affect ranking factors or cause problems for your website. However, Google treats some ccTLDs (such as .io and .fm) as gTLDs since users and website owners see these as more generic than country-targeted.
According to Google, ccTLD’s strongly signal to users and search engines that your site is targeting a specific country. From an SEO perspective, ccTLD’s are a great opportunity to help signal to Google the best target audience for the page.
As of January 2022, there are 1590 top-level domains currently in use. This number constantly changes as new top-level domains are released and others expire. You can find the complete list of TLD’s on ICANN’s Root Zone Database.
The top five popular top-level domains are .com, .ru, .org, .net and .in. These top-level domains are popular for general organisations and businesses. They are recognised worldwide and open to any registrant.
The domain name is the address of your website. It consists of numbers and words connected by dots. When users put your domain name into the browser URL, they can visit your website. A top-level domain is the last segment of your domain name and helps classify your website’s intent.