Domain names explained

Domain names explained

If you are totally new to the Internet then you can not realize that the web address you type in your browser is known as a domain name. A domain name is an easy way for people to understand and navigate the Internet.

A domain name is a string of characters used to make a name. There can be up to 63 characters in a domain name which can consist of all the letters of the English alphabet, plus the numbers zero to 9 and the hyphen or dash symbol. The name consists of a mixture of these characters, but they can not start or end with a hyphen. The hyphens are used to separate words in a domain name to them more readable for humans.

All domain names must have a top-level domain suffix. The top-level domain extensions are the characters on the end of your domain name after the last dot. This extension is used to describe the country or type of website that the domain name represents. The most popular top-level domain extension is com and this will probably continue to be so for some time due to the ingrained relationship with the Internet. Web company are usually referred to as the dot com.

Domain names can be purchased from a domain name registrar. Domain name registration is a process of registering a domain name, as much as you want to register a new car or the birth of a new baby.

The cost of the domain name registration will vary depending on the registrar and the domain extension that you choose. To register a dot com name you should expect to pay about ten dollars a year for registration. You can register a name for up to ten years and you would usually expect for a small discount.