What is a Domain Name?

Basically, a domain name is the url (Uniform Resource Locator) for a website that you see at the top of a web page in the address bar. In essence, what the domain name or url does is tell the domain name server (dns) where to send a request for a particular page or sites.

The administration of domain names is managed by icann (The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers).

To get a domain name you simply contact a registrar or reseller, use the tools they have available to check and see if the domain name you desire is available or registered. If your selection is not available, you will generally get a list or report of suggestions similar to your request from which you can choose to register.

If the domain you really want is reserved, you can sometimes purchase it from the registered owner. You can usually find contact information for the registered owner of a url using resources like the whois database where you can look up registrations. If they agree to sell the domain name to you, they can transfer the registration into your name.

Once you register a domain name, your account information becomes public and can be viewed in the whois database unless you use a registrar who enables you to opt out of making your personal information public.

Many people register their business name as part of the name if possible. Most registrars and resellers offer an option to park your domain for free while some will be a provider of hosting services and will host the website for you. You generally have an option to register the domain name for one year to several years. Hosting packages come with a variety of terms, features and optional products. Some are billed monthly and some annually.

Once you register a domain name, you need to make sure that you renew it prior to its expiration. Otherwise, you may run into problems as many people buy expired domains in hopes that the domain has existing traffic that will be beneficial to them, or solely for the purpose of reselling the domain name back to the original registered owner for a high price.

// posted by BasicMichelle on 8/27/2005 09:50:00 AM / Permanent Link