The most common domain endings for countries or organizations are referred to as Top Level Domains (TLD). This includes, for example, .de and .com.
They are called Top Level Domains (TLDs) because they form the highest hierarchical level in the international domain name system. Most domains on the Internet run under .com
Domain endings (top level domains) are on the far right of a domain: z. B. google. de .
There are
- generic top level domains (gTLDs) such as .com, .net, .org or .info and
- Country-specific top level domains (ccTLDs for country code) such as .de, .uk or .fr.
Country-specific top level domains
Country-specific top level domains are always regulated in the corresponding country. For this reason, registration is different in each country. For Germany or for .de domains, this is DENIC in Frankfurt.
If you are interested in other web hosting Canada codes: Information on the around 240 existing country code top level domains (abbreviated ccTLDs) is available on the IANA website .
Requirements for registering a .com domain in Germany you can under the domain policy , see DENIC.
Generic TLDs
So-called generic top level domains are country-specific only in exceptional cases (such as .gov for the US American government), as a rule they are cross-country.
- .biz from “business” for commercial offers from companies
- .org for organizations
- .int for international organizations like the UN
In addition, there are now other generic top level domains (gTLD) such as
- City names
- Topics / industries such as .sport or .bank
You register the selected domain yourself or have it registered – in most cases you have to go through a registrar.
Example: Register a .de domain step by step
Step 1 – Choose a domain name example.de
Decide,
a) which domain extension the domain should have, in this example “.de”
b) which domain name the domain should have, here: “example”
Step 2 – domain query
You can search for domains on almost every website of a provider or hosting provider and query whether it is still free. You can often query several possible endings for a name.
You can also start your search at DENIC directly on the denic.de website .
Step 3 – Register a .de domain
You have various options for registering your domain, which means that you always enter into a paid contract.
- with the operator of a (top level) domain (for .de domains this would be directly with DENIC: https://direct.secure.denic.de/)
- with a registrar for the parent domain
- via a service provider working with a registrar
- through a reseller who works with a service provider or registrar
Register the .de domain directly with DENIC
You are not forced to hire a provider; you can also register your domain directly with Canadian web hosting yourself. However, this is usually more expensive. In addition, you will not receive any web space, i.e. no possibility to create / run a website or to use e-mails under the domain. If you register your domain yourself and then want to use it, you have to provide the necessary infrastructure yourself, as a server, etc.