{"id":119,"date":"2025-07-18T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T18:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.domainspot.com\/blog\/?p=119"},"modified":"2026-04-06T14:15:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T21:15:04","slug":"whats-in-a-domain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.domainspot.com\/blog\/whats-in-a-domain\/","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s in a Domain?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

TLD, SLD, URL, domain name, extension<\/em>\u2026 if you\u2019re new to websites, phrases like these can definitely get a little confusing. We thought we\u2019d break some of them down into a short snapshot of a few basics you may want to know about domains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Bird’s Eye View<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s a URL?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First, we have to understand what a URL is. Take a quick glance at the address bar for this site (usually at the top of the browser, or if on mobile, then sometimes at the bottom). There, you\u2019ll see what\u2019s called a URL (or Uniform Resource Locator). A URL is the \u201caddress of a specific webpage, file, or resource<\/em> (such as video, image, GIF, etc.) on the internet.\u201d (Note the word \u201cresource,\u201d you\u2019ll hear it frequently as we take a better look at what\u2019s in a domain.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A URL can easily become an endless string of letters and numbers with many parts<\/a> like scheme (https, etc.) path, port, parameters and more. We\u2019ll stick with the bare bones for now since these URL elements can get pretty complex. Kind of like a skeleton, a URL looks like something like this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is a domain name? <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You may have heard phrases like \u201cURL, domain, webpage, and website\u201d used interchangeably. While they\u2019re all in the same family, here\u2019s a little more about their basic technical differences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we mentioned, a URL is the entire string of characters that tells a browser where on the internet to find a certain webpage or other media. Now we can\u2019t really talk about domains and URLs without mentioning terms like servers and hosting because they work together to bring a URL to life as a website or webpage.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More specifically, domain names are part of the URL that is used to locate the server that hosts the resource (website or media files). The domain name is the part of the URL that corresponds to the \u201cinternet address\u201d for the server, which handles the request, fetching and serving the resource to the browser. The browser, like Google or Safari, which used the domain name and URL to find the server and retrieve the data, then displays the resources in the format that you see on your screen as the website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this very moment, the URL in your website will say domainspot.com\/blog\/whats-in-a-domain<\/a>. At the beginning of that URL you can see the domain name “www.domainspot.com<\/a>,\u201d which tells the browser where to find the web pages requested in the URL. In many cases, the domain name will include a company brand name, or perhaps an acronym for longer brand names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parts of a domain name<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A domain name<\/em> typically has three parts: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. The top-level domain<\/strong> (TLD), which is the extension, such as .com, .net, .org, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. The second-level domain<\/strong> (SLD), which is the identifying part of the domain name for a business or brand. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. The subdomain,<\/strong> which you\u2019ll find before the SLD and has several practical purposes.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n


    In the domainspot.com example, \u201c.com\u201d is the TLD and \u201cdomainspot\u201d is the SLD. The combination of the TLD and SLD is what you register with a Domain Registrar (like DomainSpot). You don’t need to worry too much about the term “second-level domain” however. It\u2019s not commonly used in everyday conversations about websites and webpages (except perhaps among software developers).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    A Sidenote About Nameservers<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Once you have a domain name you will need something called a nameserver, which specifies which server hosts the website. The nameserver also allows you to specify subdomains. A nameserver contains the mappings of domain names to IP Addresses, which is needed for the browser to locate and connect to the actual server that hosts the website. Your browser then retrieves and displays the website as a human-friendly page with images, graphics, words, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As you can probably already see, nameservers can also get complex pretty quickly. Some good news, DomainSpot handles the name server configuration for you, so if you purchase a domain with DomainSpot you can use DomainSpot\u2019s default nameservers or you can use the nameservers provided by another web hosting company or your IT staff. If you\u2019d like to know more about nameservers, here\u2019s a great place to start<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    More about Subdomains<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Many domains also have subdomains, which are a part that goes before <\/em>the SLD and further separates a section of a website from the main site. For example, our DomainSpot Help Center content uses the subdomain: help.domainspot.com<\/a>. Fun fact: \u201cwww\u201d is actually a subdomain. It stands for \u201cworld wide web\u201d and holds its own as the most commonly used subdomain on the internet.
    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Other commonly used subdomains include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n