What is a Domain Name?

Domain name is the name of your website and the address that visitors type into the browser to visit a website. When creating a webpage, the first thing you will need is a Domain name. Just think how you have a street address for a house, and anybody can send you mail at that address.

A domain name forms part of the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) which often ends with a TLD e.g. .com, .net, .org etc. It is the face of your website or business in the form of a URL. A uniform resource locator (URL) contains domain name and other information needed to access the website. TLD is Top-Level Domain refers to the last part used while typing domain name. The most common TLD is .com than .org used for nonprofit organizations, .gov is for government agencies, .edu for educational institutes, .net for network organizations, .mil is used by military. .in and .uk or .fr is country code used by a particular country.

For example, https://www.ritiriwaz.com/ is the web address where ritiriwaz is the domain name, https is the protocol that enables communication online, transferring data from one machine to another and www stands for World Wide Web is set of linked hypertext documents the can be viewed on web browsers. www serves no technical purpose, and you can create domain name without its presence. When somebody types your domain name in a web browser the domain name is used to find its associated IP address so that your website can be displayed. Domain names are used instead of IP addresses as domain names are easier to remember than IP addresses which have a long string of numbers.

Domain name is unique for any webpage and once registered it cannot be used by anyone else. Just as you have a street address in this physical world, the same way for the internet or virtual world we have domain name.

How to choose a perfect domain name

Domain name is the key element of your business and it's crucial to choose a perfect name as it is the face of your business and can make or break it. The first thing you see is the URL of a website and its first impression should be positive and long-lasting. Domain name is not only impression of your business, but it also helps you in SEO. When you have your keyword in your domain name it works wonders. Try to select domain name that contains keyword related to niche of your website.

After deciding on the name of your domain next is deciding on the extension associated with it. The most common and easiest to remember extension is .com. If .com is taken, then you can go for .net and .org which will be the safest. The domain name you choose should be shortest, aim for 6-14 character long domain name. Shorter domain names are easily to remember, pronounce, and type and can easily build you a brand. Always take care there are no hyphens and numbers included in your domain name. Also avoid using doubles letters in domain name as they are hard to read and type correctly. Make sure you do a lot of research before deciding in a domain name as you also must look it is not infringing on trademarks or copyrights.

Who manages the Domain name?

A domain name registrar is responsible for handling the reservation of domain name and providing IP address to that domain name.  Registrars are authorized by Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and oversee the allocation, coordination, and development of policy relating to the critical Internet resources –Internet Protocol addresses, Domain Names System, and parameter numbers.  Chose the right domain name registrar to save from future potential problems. Some of the popular domain name registrars are Domain.com, Bluehost, Network Solutions, HostGator, godaddy.com, and NameCheap.

Where you can buy domain name

You technically can't buy a domain name, but once you register it you can keep it as long as you want by continuing to pay the annual registration fee. It doesn't matter where you buy domain name from, all registrars are equally liable. You just need to check the price, accreditation, terms, Duration, Domain lock, transfer policy, customer support, and management.

Parts of Domain name

A domain name is the address of your website and choosing the right address is especially important for a visitor to land on your website. For locating a page on the internet, you need a URL or Universal Resource Locator, domains are part of the URL. Domains names have @ and www in the URL. For example, https://www.ritiriwaz.com/ is the URL of website RitiRiwaz. Domain name is RitiRiwaz, https:// represents the protocol required for all URL, and .com represent a TLD or Top-level domain.