How to Extract Domain from a Website URL

Backlink Analysis & SEO Audits

SEO tools like Ahrefs and Semrush export thousands of backlink URLs. Many of those URLs come from the same domain. Extracting root domains lets you deduplicate the list and count how many unique websites link to you — a key ranking factor.

Data Cleaning & Deduplication

When working with large datasets of URLs, you often need to normalize them. Extracting domains ensures thathttps://www.example.com andhttp://example.com/blog are both treated asexample.com.

Security & Phishing Detection

Security analysts extract domains from suspicious URLs to check them against threat intelligence databases. Identifying the real domain behind a long, obfuscated URL is a critical step in phishing detection.

Competitor Research

When researching competitors, you might collect hundreds of URLs from search results, social media, or directories. Extracting domains gives you a clean list of unique competitor websites to analyze.

2Extract Domain with JavaScript

If you need to extract domains programmatically in a browser or Node.js, use the built-in URL constructor:

const url = new URL('https://blog.example.com/article');
const hostname = url.hostname;        // "blog.example.com"

// Get root domain (naive approach)
const parts = hostname.split('.');
const rootDomain = parts.slice(-2).join('.'); // "example.com"

// For accurate root domain extraction, use the Public Suffix List (PSL)
// npm install psl
import psl from 'psl';
const parsed = psl.parse(hostname);
console.log(parsed.domain); // "example.com"

The naive approach fails on multi-part TLDs like co.uk. Use the psl library for production code.

3Extract Domain with Python

Python developers can use the tldextract library, which leverages the Public Suffix List for accurate parsing:

import tldextract

result = tldextract.extract('https://blog.example.co.uk/article')
print(result.subdomain)   # "blog"
print(result.domain)      # "example"
print(result.suffix)      # "co.uk"
print(result.registered_domain)  # "example.co.uk"

4Using Excel or Google Sheets

For spreadsheet users, you can combine text functions to extract domains:

=REGEXEXTRACT(A1, "^(?:https?://)?(?:www\.)?([^/]+)")

In Excel 365, you can use the TEXTBEFORE function combined with string replacements.

5Command Line (grep / awk / sed)

For quick shell processing, use grep and sed:

# Extract hostname from URLs in a file
grep -oP '(?<=://)([^/]+)' urls.txt

# Remove www. prefix and get root domain (basic)
sed -E 's|https?://||; s|www.||; s|/.*||' urls.txt

Ignoring Multi-Part TLDs

A common error is assuming the last two dot-separated parts are always the domain. For news.bbc.co.uk, the root domain isbbc.co.uk, not co.uk. Always use a library or tool that understands the Public Suffix List.

Confusing Subdomain with Root Domain

www.example.com and example.com often point to the same site, but technically they are different hostnames. For SEO deduplication, you usually want to treat them as the same root domain.

Manual Copy-Paste Errors

When manually extracting domains from long URLs, it is easy to leave trailing slashes, query strings, or miss subdomains. Using an automated tool eliminates these human errors.

Can I extract domains in bulk?

Yes. The Domain Extractor tool supports bulk input. Paste a list of URLs or a full block of text, and the tool will identify and list all unique domains automatically.

What is the difference between a domain and a root domain?

A domain (or hostname) includes subdomains, such as blog.example.com. A root domain strips the subdomain and returns only example.com. Our tool lets you choose whether to include subdomains in the results.

Does this work for international domains?

Yes. The tool uses the Public Suffix List to correctly identify multi-part top-level domains likeco.uk, com.au, and co.jp. It also handles internationalized domain names (IDN) such as Chinese or Arabic domains.

Is my data sent to a server?

No. Domain Extractor runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript. Your URLs and text are never uploaded to any server, making it safe for sensitive data.