Domain Names

Overview
Top Domain Names Providers
FAQS

A Domain Name is a uniquely created set of characters made for identifying the name of a website. This also sets the area in which the website can be found on the internet. Before, the websites had to be identified using IP Addresses, but now we can specify their domain names as the counterpart for those addresses.

Parts of the Domain Name

Usually, domain names would look like this:

www.domainname.com

There are three parts to that domain name:

Prefix

This is typically seen as a “www” found at the start of almost every domain name. The “www” stands for World Wide Web. This is actually not always constant, and isn’t part of the main domain name. But people typically type it on the address bar whenever they want to enter the website.

Website name

This can be as small as two words long and could extend to any length that the maker wants. They typically stand for the website’s title, but it can change depending on whether that name has been taken or not. For example, Facebook can be entered by writing “www.fb.com” on the address bar.

Extension

This is the “.com” part that you find in most addresses. However, it can also change depending on the area of the creator and the service that they are favoring. Sometimes it could be “.net” and it could also stand for a specific country (“.ca for Canada).

The domain extension is the main reason for whatever price you will be paying for with the registration. The “.com” domain names usually cost around $10 per year. The cheapest would be those like “.info”, which cost around $1 yearly. “.tk” and “.cc” are free, but may have a harder time reaching the first page when used on a search engine.

Registering a Domain Name

Although most websites can have a normal domain name, this is very hard to procure from hosting providers, especially in shared hosting. Registering itself is pretty cheap, but you have to renew the domain name every few years. The main disadvantage to registering one is that since it is cheap, most of the simple and easy names are already taken. For businesses, the domain name has to be memorable for the customers, and the most effective way of doing that is to use the same name that your website is using. Therefore, if you plan to have a specific domain name in mind, plan it before you create the name of your website so that it can adjust to the domain name effectively.

If you have found the domain name that you would prefer to use, make sure that it is unused and then you can quickly register it. It will stay yours, but it requires constant renewing. Failure to pay the renewal fee would remove the domain name from use and it will be available for others to purchase once more.

DNS Server

DNS means Domain Name System. When you are registered, the DNS server is in charge of informing other computers on the Internet about your domain name and your web address. Usually, those domain registrars who can access the DNS database are the ones who sell the domain names. The registrations itself might include many other options, which can cause confusion for any beginner.

Which web hosting providers offer domain names?

Registering can be done through your web hosting provider. Most web hosting companies allow the registering of domain names, and almost all of them have that available anytime. Here are some of the popular hosting providers that allow the use of domain names: