Research > ​Website Domains

Website Domain Types:

Below is a range of domain types on the internet, and the specific audiences they are created for.

Domain	Type	Site Type
.com	Commercial	Websites created for commercial businesses
.net	Network-related	Commercial sites that deal in networking or the internet itself
.org	Organisations	Non-profit organisations
.gov	Government websites	Websites created by local, state or national governments
.edu	Education websites	Websites created by primary schools, secondary schools, universities and the education department.
Country codes e.g.  ​.au .ca .uk .fr	Country-specific websites	Websites created in specific countries for a particular audience

Why are domains important?

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A website domain is used to define the type of website that it is representing. The domain can be used to identify if the website was created for educational purposes, for government, not-for-profit organisations or commercial businesses.

Look at the table below for an explanation of the most common domains on the internet.
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Note: Commercial websites are created by businesses, but are not always trying to sell you something, or persuading you of a particular opinion.

What to look for on the website:​

• Look at the ending of the website to determine what type of domain the website is

Questions to consider:​​

1. Is the URL and domain reliable?
2. What is the website's primary purpose?

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