Which domain zone to choose: the best domain zones for business

The domain zone is as important as the domain name. A good domain zone can attract more visitors to your site; a bad one can make them close your site.

In this article we will talk about top-level domain names: types of domain names, beautiful domain zones and the best domains in the world for business.

What is a domain zone

A domain zone is a component of a domain that is located to the right of its name.

Other names for a domain zone are top-level domain or first-level domain. You can also often find the English abbreviation “TLD”, top level domain.

Various domain zones are needed to provide the user with more information at the first glance at the domain. So, looking at a link with the domain good.blog, you can immediately assume that this is a blog site. Or see the domain best-shop.de and guess that it is aimed primarily at a German audience.

Top-level domain names are registered by companies that have the time and several hundred thousand dollars to do so. In addition, you won’t be able to buy a top domain and simply place your website on it - first-level domain zones are issued specifically to domain registrars.

Applications for new top-level domains are reviewed by ICANN, an international non-profit organization that regulates issues related to domains and IP addresses. Applicants must prove to ICANN that they meet additional requirements, such as the technical and financial ability to maintain a domain registry.

Thus, if you come up with a domain name yourself, then you select a domain zone from the list of existing ones.

What are the domain zones?

Let's figure out what top-level domains exist and how they differ from each other.

Typically, the following types of top-level domains are conventionally distinguished:

• national domain zones are two-character national domains of countries: .ua, .us, .de, .pl;
• regional domains or geographic top-level domains - these can be domain zones of cities, like .amsterdam and .barcelona, ​​or domain zones of large regions, like .asia, .africa;
• thematic domain zones - all other first-level domain names: .com, .photo, .biz, .tickets.

In most cases, registrars do not require domain owners to ensure that the theme of the site matches the selected domain zone. That is, if you register a domain in the .tattoo zone and place a car repair shop website on it, nothing terrible will happen, the domain name will not be taken away from you.

But in order not to confuse future site visitors, it is still advised to choose a domain zone that suits the theme of the resource.

We also note that domain zones come in two levels:

• first level domain name - for example, .ua;
• second level domain name - .com.ua.

That is, the registrar of a first-level domain can create a second-level zone based on its domain and allow ordinary users to register domains in this new zone.

For the registrar this is additional income, and for users it creates a wider choice of domain zones.

Special domain zones

Typically, to register a domain name, all you need to do is provide the contact information for the future domain owner and pay the invoice. A few minutes of order processing and you get the desired domain name. But there are exceptions.

Registrars may set restrictions on the purchase of names in certain domain zones. Here are some examples:

• .ua - domain registration is possible only if there is a trademark, the domain name must exactly match the TM name;
• .gov.ua - the domain can only be registered by government authorities of Ukraine;
• .law —a domain can be obtained by individuals and companies licensed to operate legally;
• .aero - to register a domain, you need to confirm your affiliation with aviation.

Therefore, before choosing a domain zone, check its requirements and features with support in advance. This way you will save time and effort when registering a name later.

Does a domain zone affect SEO?

You will find a lot of debate on this topic online because it is truly controversial.

Some believe that geographic first-level domains increase a site's position in local search results. That is, that, all other things being equal, in Lviv the domain site.lviv.ua will be higher in search results than site.com. Some people think that topic domains with keywords do the same thing: the dentistry website doctor.dental will be higher than doctor.net.

At the beginning of 2022, Google Search representative John Mueller commented on these assumptions about different types of first-level domains. Here are the main highlights:

• Top-level domain keywords such as .guitars, .insurance, .jewelry and the like do not provide any search advantage.
• Google treats city or regional top-level domain zones like .istanbul or .asia like any other Internet domain. That is, in London, the search engine will not by default offer a domain in the .london zone higher than the .com domain.
• Google uses two-character country domain zones for geographic targeting of the site. For example, Google will consider the domain site.us more relevant to audiences in the United States. For geographic targeting, using country codes is a good way to let users and search engines know your target audience.
• Bottom line, if you want to use geotargeting, there are two ways to do it. One of them is to use a country code top-level domain. Another is to use a generic top-level domain and set up geotargeting in Google Search Console.

 That is, with the correct geo settings of the site, it makes no difference to Google which 1st level domain you use. In most cases, algorithms will neither rank your domain higher nor lower in search results.  

But at the same time, effective domain zones can motivate users to choose your blog or online store among the search results. For example, if a person is looking for a groomer in Lutsk, he may prefer the website dogs-and-cats.lutsk.ua rather than dogs-and-cats.com. From the first option it is immediately clear that the salon is located in the right city.

Also, some domain zones may repel more experienced users. For example, free domain zones .tk or .ml. A site with such a domain zone immediately arouses mistrust; a suspicion arises that the page was created temporarily and in a hurry. Possibly for the purpose of deception.

Below I will give examples of zones in which you can register good domains. I will not list all the domains in the world: only the most beautiful and most popular domain zones.

The best Ukrainian domain zones

If your business is regional, you can choose regional domain zones, for example .kharkiv.ua, .ivano-frankivsk.ua, .mykolaiv.ua.

Almost every region has several options for domain zones: Ukrainian-language version, Russian-language and shortened version. For example, the Rivne region has the following top-level domain options: .rivne.ua, .rovno.ua and .rv.ua. We advise you to choose Ukrainian-language or shortened top-level domain names ??

If your website will be focused on the whole of Ukraine, below we have selected popular domain zones for you.

 To find out the price of domain registration in a certain zone, simply click on its plate. 

.DO — the most prestigious Ukrainian domain. If you remember the domain names of large Ukrainian online stores or organizations, most of them will be on a domain with the .ua zone: rozetka.ua, novaposhta.ua, privatbank.ua. This national domain can only be registered by those who have a trademark - the domain name must exactly match the TM name.

.COM.UA — the most popular top-level domain in Ukraine. Domains of commercial organizations are registered in this zone. If you don’t have a brand, but want to emphasize the site’s focus on the Ukrainian audience, this is a good choice.

.IN.UA - due to the play on words “in UA” - “in Ukraine”, interesting domains can be registered in this zone. This zone will be a successful continuation of your domain name: “the-best-pajamas.in.ua” - “the best pajamas in Ukraine.”

.NET.UA is another zone where you can come up with interesting domain names. For example, hvorob.net.ua for a website about medicine. With the .net.ua domain zone, you can register both the domain of individuals and the domain of organizations.

.BIZ.UA — a domain extension that reflects the business focus of your resource. The zone is less popular than the previous ones, so some short domain names are still available in it. The shorter the domain, the better: it’s easier for customers to remember and harder to misspell.

.ORG.UA — Ukrainian top-level domain for websites of organizations. You can register, for example, a successful educational domain or a company domain.

.UKR — universal top-level domain of Ukraine. Please note that only domains in Cyrillic are allowed in this zone. That is, you can register the site.ukr domain, but you cannot register site.ukr.

The best international domain zones

If you want to create a website aimed at another country, it is better to choose the national top-level domain of that country: .us, .it, pl.

If your website is designed for a specific geographic region, here are popular and interesting foreign domains:

.EU — Domains from European Union countries are registered in this zone. Instead of purchasing individual domains for European countries, you can register your name in this zone. Please note that only residents of European Union countries, as well as legal entities registered in the EU, can purchase this domain. The domain allows for commercial activities and the creation of social and cultural resources.

.EU.COM - another European international domain. It is less beautiful than the previous one, but has no registration restrictions. Anyone can purchase a domain in this zone.

.ASIA — this zone unites the domains of the states of the Asian region. If your site targets several eastern countries, such as Japan, China and Vietnam, this is a good domain extension option.

.AFRICA - another top-level domain responsible for an entire continent. A good option if you register the domain of tourism business entities involved in travel to Egypt, Tunisia, Tanzania, Morocco.

.WORLD — it’s hard to think of a more international top-level domain. In this zone you can register international domain names for any project: from logistics to education.

Similar to the .world domain extension, you can also consider the international top-level domains .global and .international .

Best themed areas

The most popular topic domain in the world is the .com top-level domain . This is a universal domain for a commercial organization. In addition to it, there are about a thousand other thematic domains. You can view all domain zones in the world on the ICANN website .

Below we have collected interesting domain zones from different categories and directions, as well as the meaning of these domain zones.

.STORE and SHOP — popular top-level domains for online store pages.

.ORGANIC — a thematic top-level domain for sites with organic products.

.AGENCY - an excellent option if you are planning to create any professional agency: travel, marketing, website building.

.ECO — in this zone you can register unique domains related to ecology.

.SCHOOL — included in the top domains for an educational site.

.MEDIA and NEWS - relatively new top-level domain names. Domains for news and media sites are registered in these zones.

.PHOTO — a good domain for personal websites of photographers or photostock services.

.DESIGN — suitable for sites about interior design, architecture and web design.

.COOKING — you can register unusual domains for culinary blogs.

.FINANCE and FINANCIAL - popular domain names for financial brokers, auditors, accountants and investors. Also suitable for websites of banks and funds.

 We hope that in this article we were able to explain in simple words what top-level domains are. Perhaps our description of domain zones helped you decide on a good site name.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to write to our support team . We will be happy to help you choose a domain ?