What Do Web Address Endings Mean?

Montenegro's ".me" suffix is growing in popularity.

The ending of a web address signifies the purpose of the website. Popular web addresses end with ".com," ".org," ".gov" and ".edu." The ending is called a "suffix" and is part of site's domain name.

.Com and .Org

The ".com" suffix is the most common type of web address ending. It means that the website is meant for commercial purposes. Corporations, businesses and companies tend use ".com" for their websites. Another popular suffix is ".org." Organizations, such as nonprofits, choose the ".org" suffix.

.Net, .Edu and .Gov

Internet-related companies, such as network providers and website-hosting providers, frequently use the ".net" suffix. ".Net" means "network," but is also used by businesses of all types. ".Edu" is for educational organizations, such as schools and universities. The U.S. federal government reserves the exclusive right to use the ".gov" suffix.

Countries

Names of countries are now acceptable domain name suffixes. For example, ".us" is the domain suffix for United States.

References

• Registration Opens for ME Domains
• Microments: Meaning of Domain Names Explained