Category: Development

What Are Domain Extensions And How Many Of Them Are Used?

The domain is registered and has been in use for decades. During this time, millions of domain names have been created, registered, and deleted. Each of these domains must be unique, so the list of suitable or required names that your business can use or need is exhausted, even if it isn’t.

Previously, only 22 top-level domains (TLDs) or domain extensions such as .com, .net, and .org were used. The ICANN organization noticed that the supply of ideal TLDs was declining and sought to fix this by adding new domain extensions. It provides a better or more creative way to create a useful domain for your business or website.

There are 20 generic top-level domains (or gTLDs) that have been used for many years. Most of these are generally widely available (such as .com for commercial use), but some are limited to government (.gov), military (.mil), country, or university (.edu). Over the past few years, this confusing area of ​​gTLD extensions has been implemented by many new available gTLDs.

Unrestricted Domain Extensions

Unlimited domain extension means that anyone can buy it. They are open to the public. These are extensions that you see when you submit your domain idea to a domain name registrar such as GoDaddy.com.

Most people are familiar with one of the first extensions, such as .com, .net, .org. Presently, .com is commonly used by for-profit companies.

Unrestricted domain extensions can include (but aren’t limited to):

  • .info
  • .co
  • .solutions
  • .io
  • .academy
  • .mobi
  • .today
  • .company
  • .tv
  • .clothing
  • .tips
  • .email
  • .land
  • .directory

Below are some of the most common domain extensions and their importance-:

  1. .com – This is the most widely used domain extension. Extension refers to the commercial business domain. However, it is used by almost all types of websites. From business pages to personal blogs, from organizations to government agencies.
  2. .net – This domain extension is an abbreviation for the network. Like .com, this extension is widely used in the niche market for almost every website. But at this point, the alternative extensions are in line with the technology site.
  3. .org – The .org domain extension is widely used on organizational websites, more specifically nonprofits, subcommittees, and the private sector. However, anyone can register and own the .org website.
  4. .gov – Government agencies regularly use the .gov domain extension. Extension registration is restricted. This will improve the reliability and reliability of your .gov website. The .gov extension is often combined with the respective land extension.
  5. .edu – This domain extension is used exclusively for the education sector. Educational websites, schools, and learning institutions use this domain extension. Registration is restricted and is restricted to validated and certified organizations only.
  6. .biz – Small businesses prefer business-specific extensions. Domain extensions are used by sole proprietors, home businesses, and online marketers to design their business and e-commerce.
  7. .online – This domain extension is popular with recently connected affiliates. This is their way of telling people that they are now available for business and are effectively working.
  8. .info – It is used on information sites. Topics are usually specific and are also added to your domain name. Tutorials, FAQs, and resources on food, travel, gardening, parenting, or baking are best edited and sold with the .info extension.
  9. .me – The .me extension refers to blogs and personal pages. It is also used by artists and entrepreneurs who sell brands and works. Having a .me website is a great way to showcase your work, talents, services, and portfolio.
  10. Country Specific – Country-specific domain expansion is quickly becoming the best option for companies and organizations that want to indicate their country of origin. .Us for the United States, .au for Australia, .cn for China, .ca for Canada, .uk for the United Kingdom, and .ph for the Philippines. This helps your website focus on your target audience.

Restricted Domain Extensions

There are some domain extensions that are not generally available and you must meet certain requirements to purchase them.

One of them is .edu. To be eligible for the .edu extension, you must be a US higher education institution and properly accredited. An interesting exception to this rule is that nonprofits with .edu qualifications with a membership of 75% or higher can also get it. .edu extension.

Another of these restricted extensions is .gov. This extension is available to genuine government organizations at all levels of government. If you meet the requirements for the .gov extension, there is also a rigorous review process to ensure that your domain’s intent is clear.

Difference Between HTTPS and HTTP – Completely Explained

Many websites use HTTP. However, in 2014, Google recommended switching the website to HTTPS. Until then, only websites with e-commerce pages were plagued by actually using HTTPS.

As an incentive to change, Google has announced a slight increase in the ranking of HTTPS sites. This effectively penalizes sites that haven’t changed by giving the competitors who have made changes an advantage.

What is HTTP?

HTTP is an abbreviation for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The most basic form allows communication between different systems. It is most commonly used to transfer data from a web server to a browser so that users can view a web page. This is basically the protocol used by all older sites.

What is HTTPS?

HTTPS is an abbreviation for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. The problem with the usual HTTP protocol is that the information flowing from the server to the browser is unencrypted. In other words, it can easily be stolen. The HTTPS protocol uses a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate to resolve this. This helps create a secure encrypted connection between the server and the browser and protects against theft of sensitive information in transit. Between the server and the browser.

Main Difference Between The Both

The main difference between the two protocols is the SSL certificate. In fact, HTTPS is actually a more secure HTTP protocol. However, this additional security can be very important, especially for websites that retrieve sensitive data from users, such as credit card information and passwords.

How HTTPS Works?

An SSL certificate encrypts the information you provide to your website and basically translates the data into code. If someone steals the data communicated between the sender and the receiver, it cannot be understood because of this encryption.

HTTPS is also protected by the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol. TLS helps provide data integrity that helps prevent data transfer changes and damage, and authentication that indicates to the user that the user is communicating with the desired website.

How HTTPS is helpful in SEO?

In addition to the fact that Google itself has announced that sites that have switched to HTTPS will be ranked slightly higher, visitors are more likely to crawl, so sites can be ranked higher at any time. Browse the website. They know it’s safe.

Using the HTTPS website makes Google Analytics more efficient. This is because the security data for the referenced site is stored using HTTPS instead of the HTTP site. On HTTP sites, reference sources simply appear as “direct traffic.” This gives HTTPS a huge advantage over SEO itself.

HTTPS websites encrypt all communications, so visitors protect sensitive information such as passwords and credit card information, as well as their browsing history. Knowing that they will maintain your privacy while browsing your site and that what they download, log in to, or purchase does not endanger them due to lack of security. Knowing helps you build the trust that is essential to grabbing clues and closing sales.

HTTPS is required to use AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages). AMP was created by Google as a faster way to load content on mobile devices. In essence, AMP is a kind of simplified HTML. AMP content is prominently displayed on Google SERPs, providing a better mobile experience for smartphone and tablet users.

How to create an XML sitemap and send it to Google

As the name implies, an XML sitemap is a business website roadmap that takes Google to all the important pages of your website. It’s a powerful tool and also underrated. A little training and knowledge about this tool will be of great help. You need to understand the usefulness and importance of guiding your business in the right direction.

What is an XML Sitemap?

XML sitemaps are great for SEO and help Google rank your site in the first few pages of search results. An important thing to keep in mind here is that SEO makes it easier for Google to find a web page because it ranks both the web page and the website. Sometimes you want Google to search every page of your site, but the internal links aren’t complete and hard to find. In this case, the XML sitemap contains all the important pages, so Google can easily find the pages. This allows Google to crawl all web pages without losing important information. 

Sitemaps are specially written for search engines, not for humans. So, it would be hard for us to understand if not seen before.

Why Sitemap is Required?

Search engines use crawlers to search and index all information on the web. Use internal and external links to detect new content as you crawl the page.

However, if the new web page is not linked to another known page, the crawler will have difficulty finding the new page on the web page and will delay the indexing process.

This is where the site map comes in.

Not only does the site map contain a lot of valuable links, but it also helps searchers find new information quickly. If you send the XML sitemap file to Google, you’ll see that all the new posts/pages you publish are available somewhere in your Google search results (after a few minutes). This is due to the sitemap file.

Google officially told when a webmaster needs a sitemap:

  • Your website is really large
  • Your website is brand new and has few external links pointing to it
  • You don’t build internal links

How to create an XML sitemap?

1. Creating a sitemap in WordPress

Various WordPress plugins are available that allow you to create XML sitemaps, such as Yoast SEO and Rank Math SEO.

Create a sitemap using Yoast SEO

  • From the WordPress admin panel, go to Plugins> Add New and search for “Yoast SEO”.
  • Once enabled, go to SEO> General> Features. Click the Question icon to view the site map URL.

Create a sitemap using Rank Math SEO

  • Log in to your WordPress dashboard and go to Plugins> Add New.
  • Search for “Rank Math” and install it.
  • After activation, go to Rank Math> Sitemap Settings.
  • From there, you can set the number of links you need for each sitemap page, exclude URLs, images in posts, and more.
  • At the top you will see a sitemap-URL similar to the following:

“https://www.website.com/sitemap_index.xml”

2. Creating a sitemap without a CMS

In this case, Screaming Frog is a great option. Screaming Frog is a desktop application (available on Windows and Mac) that crawls websites. The software has a premium version and a free version.

If your website URL is less than 500, you can use the free version of ScreamingFrog to generate a sitemap.

Create a sitemap using ScreamingFrog:

  • After downloading and installing, open the software on your computer.
  • Enter the URL of your website at the top of the screen and click Start.
  • The website crawl will start and may take a few minutes to complete.
  • When the crawl is complete, check the crawled page.
  • If the number is less than 500, you are ready. Click the top of the Site Map> XML Site Map menu.
  • You can also include the options you need in your sitemap file, such as non-indexed pages, last modified dates, paginated URLs, PDF files, and images.
  • Click the Export button to save the file to your computer.
  • You are ready to use the XML sitemap file.

Create a Sitemap in Wix

  • If you use Wix, you don’t need to manually create a sitemap.
  • Wix does this automatically.
  • You can view the sitemap file at “your-wix-site.com/sitemap.xml”.
  • However, Wix doesn’t give you much control over your sitemap.
  • If you want to exclude a page from your sitemap, go to the SEO (Google) tab in your page settings and uncheck Show this page in search results.

Create a Sitemap in Shopify

  • Shopify will automatically generate an XML sitemap file. You can view the sitemap file by visiting “yourwebsite.com/sitemap.xml”.
  • The generated sitemap contains all products, collections, blogs, and web pages. The sitemap file is automatically updated as changes are made.

How To Submit An XML Sitemap?

  • You need to link your Google Search Console account to your website.
  • Once connected, sign in to your Google Search Console account and select your website.
  • Click the site map on the dashboard.
  • The Add New Site Map option is displayed. Enter the sitemap URL in the blank field and press the Submit button.