Reading a URL or Web Address

Copy and paste the URL (or Web address) of the document you are evaluating into the search box of checkdomain.com to see who is responsible for the host computer on which the page resides. For more information, search the domain owner in Associations Unlimited.

Or you may strip away subdirectories from the URL until you find a page that gives information about the owner and/or author. In the image below, http is the transfer type (hypertext transfer protocol -- how the data is transmitted); the host computer name is www.washington; the top-level domain is .edu -- the education domain (see below for common top-level domains); the directories are the site manager's or webmaster's method of organizing the files on the host computer; and inside the subdirectory called AUT2002 is the document titled info.html.

A list of the most common domains:
  • .com : the commercial domain, a marketplace on the Internet. Anyone can publish in this domain, and most are selling something. You will also find many publications, like newspapers and magazines, in this domain.
  • .edu : the education domain, where schools, teachers, and students from kindergarten through higher education publish.
  • .gov : the U.S. government domain, including federal, and local governments and all their agencies and institutions.
  • .org : originally the non-profit domain, for institutions like consumer groups or political parties; but now anyone can buy a .org domain name.
  • .net : originally reserved for Internet service providers like America Online (AOL) or community networks, it is now available to almost anyone.

    For an exhaustive list of top level domain names, see this page from AcronymsOnline.com

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