Global Top-Level Domain Name (or GTLD)

A Global Top-Level Domain Name, or gTLD, is a Top-Level Domain Name that is not country specific (or at least intended to be country specific).

Global Top-Level Domain Name (or GTLD)

A Global Top-Level Domain Name, or GTLD (sometimes written gTLD), is a Top-Level Domain Name that is not country specific (or at least intended to be country specific). These top-level domain names are available to any business or organization when registering a domain name for their web site.

Why Does This Matter to Me?

The Global Top-Level Domain Names are the most popular choices for companies in the U.S., and in many locations around the world for organizations when selecting a domain name. The most common of these is ".com," which is intended to indicate that a web site is for commercial purposes.

Among the other GTLDs are .biz, for businesses, .info for informational web sites, .net for network service providers, .org for non-profit organizations, .pro for professional services (like lawyers and accountants), and .coop for cooperatives. However, for all of these the restrictions on what they are for has really been only a vague guideline for many years.

A few stricter GTLDs are .edu, for institutions of higher education in the United States, .gov for United States Government sites, and .mil for United States Military.

So, selecting the right GTLD for your business or organization's web site can help inform your visitors about what your organization is in advance, and can help to set expectations.