Understanding domain names
What a domain name is:
Domain names are all around the place, but few people understand
what's behind them. We see them on TV advertisements, we listen to them at
radio shows, we read them on our daily newspapers, but most of us have no idea
of the details involved. These usually do not become evident until a domain
name is needed for a website.
A domain name is basically a website address. For example, "Apple.com" is the
address of the Apple website; it's also the site's domain name.
You may have noticed that there are identical domain names that differ for their
extension, which is their identifying code. The five most popular types of Top
Level Domains (TLDs), which are domains that are not associated with a country,
are:
.COM
Short for .commercial. Domain names with the .com extension are by far the most
popular, and can be purchased by any individual or business.
.NET
Short for .network, this domain extension was originally designed to
be used by technical Web sites. However, domains using this extension can be
registered by anyone.
.ORG
Short for .organization. Originally designated for non-profit firms and any
other organizations that did not fit under the .com or .net extension, any
individual or business may now register a .org domain name.
.INFO
Short for .information. .INFO has been introduced in 2001 and is for both
businesses and individuals. In 2005, the total number of .INFO domain names
registered is getting closer to the much older .ORG extension domains.
.BIZ
Short for .business. .BIZ is dedicated to the business community and an ideal
alternative to the crowded .com space. With .BIZ users can get a great name and
expand their online presence.
.US
.US is "America's Internet Address." It is the official country code top-level
domain (ccTLD) for the United States within the global domain name system
(DNS).
There are also different Country Level Domains: every country can own its own
extension, but there may be restrictions to registration of these names.
There are specific guidelines that regulate the format of domain names: they
must be at least two characters long and no more than 63 characters maximum,
excluding the top level domain. The characters can include any combination of
letters, numbers or hyphens. The first and last character cannot be a hyphen.
Domain names are not case-sensitive. i.e. "apple.com" would be the same as
"Apple.com."
How you can get a domain name
There are different ways to secure a domain name, depending on if they are
available to anyone to register, registered but about to expire, or registered
for a long time.
Available domain names (names that do not belong to anybody) can be registered
using the service offered by ICANN accredited registrars (around 300) and their
resellers. The prices may vary between $7 and $35. The registration is in most
cases immediate.
Domain names that are about to expire can be back-ordered using specific
services that continuously monitor the domain name to register it on your
behalf the second it expires. They then transfer the domain name to the
registrar of your choice and you own it.
Registered domain names can be purchased or rented from the owner, either
directly or through a site that conducts auctions. So, if you want a domain
name and somebody else owns it (and it's not expiring) you can contact them
directly (you will find more info about the owner in the WhoIs record
associated with that name), or check an auction site. For a listing of auction
sites, see Rate-A-Registrar, then make
sure that among the top checkboxes only "Auction" is checked.
What can I do with a domain name:
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Domain names can be used to establish a unique identity on the internet.
Companies use to register domain names that correspond to their company name,
as well as individuals can get a domain name for the website where they posted
the picture of last summer
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Take advantage of the popularity of a specific word / combination of words:
companies can register domain names that are related to their industry to
receive additional visitors to their websites. I.e. a company in the Real
Estate industry could register RealEstate.com and redirect it to its main
website to drive more customers.
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Get a personal, unique email address: a domain name can be used to serve a
personal email address. I.e. mr. John Smith could register smith.com to get
john@smith.com, an easy to remember personal email address.
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Trade it! There is a whole secondary market of domain names, where people buy
and sell domain names for good amounts of cash. 7 figure sales have been
reported in the past for names sold through specialized websites and private
deals.
Click here to browse a list of useful domain name
resources