About Website Domain Names

The Internet is giant network of computers connected to each other through a global network. Each computer on this network can communicate with the other computers. For the computers to identify each other, each computer is assigned an IP Address. The IP address is a series of numbers that identify a particular computer on the internet. A typical IP address looks like this: “164.72.122.91”. Since numerical IP addresses can be quite difficult for people to remember, domain names were invented to solve this problem.

Domain names are made up of three parts: a top-level domain (sometimes called an extension or domain suffix), a domain name, and an optional Subdomain. The combination of the domain name and top-level domain is known as a “Root Domain”.

• Top Level Domain (TLD) – is the formal term for the suffix that appears at the end of a domain name. It is the first level of a domain’s hierarchy. Some example of top-level domains include: “.com”, .”net” and “.edu”. While you are probably familiar with these TLDs, there are actually over 1,000 possible TLDs from which you can choose.
• Domain Name – is the second level of a domain’s hierarchy. This tends to be the most descriptive and readable portion of a root domain. Examples of domain names are:
• princetontechadvisors.com
• techtopics4u.com
• psgofmercercounty.org

No two different websites can have the same root domain. However, one website can have multiples root domains assigned. All the pages on the same website have the same root domain, and usually have their own domain name: “http://ift.tt/2Cli7wx“.

• Subdomains are the third level of a domain’s hierarchy. They are added in front of the root domain and separated from the domain name with a period. Example of a subdomain are:
• espanol.princetonenlace.com
• www.princetontechadvisors.com

The above are both subdomains of their website’s root domain. The most common subdomain is www (world wide web). It’s also possible to omit the subdomain to access a website.

Every business, and everyone who needs to be found online, needs a website. If your business is not found online, it is irrelevant to those searching for your service or product offerings.

The first step is to buy a domain name (actually, the Root Domain). Anyone can buy a domain. To do so, you visit a domain name registrar, such as GoDaddy or Google Domains, key in the root domain you want to buy, and pay a fee. You buy a domain for a term, such as 1 to 10 years, and can renew your purchase at the end of the term (or even set up an auto-renewal). You may only buy a domain that is not already registered by another person or business.

Domain names put a friendly face on the hard-to-remember numeric IP addresses. Since your domain name is the name of your website, you want to make sure you get a good one. You will want to buy one that is catchy and short so that it’s both easy for people to remember, and easy for people to type.

Look forward to our future post where we discuss Search Engine Optimization (SEO) best practices for domains.

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