What's in a Domain Name

The simplest way to define a domain name is as a series of words, separated by dots, that identifies an IP address (more on IP addresses later). Put even more simply, a domain name is your website name. The name of your website may also be the same as the name of your business. But overall it is the place where you store your pages on the Internet and it represents 'YOU', or your business, online.

People that want to see your pages type in your domain name (also referred to as a URL or Universal Resource Locator) so that they can access the pages on your site. It should become how people refer to you or your product on the Internet; 'Your Brand'.

A domain name is made up of no less than two parts; a name, consisting of numbers and letters that can also include a dash; and a Top Level Domain (TLD) identifier, something similar to .com or .net, etc.
www.yourdomain.com
If you take a look at the example above, the letters 'yourdomain' is the name and '.com' is the TLD. So the domain name is 'yourdomain.com'.

Every domain name must be unique. However, there could be several people using the name, such as 'yourdomain', but with a different TLD. So 'yourdomain.com' would refer to a different location on the Internet than 'yourdomain.net'.

A few of the most common top level domains, and suggested uses include:
.com - for Commercial Enterprises
.biz - for businesses and commercial sites
.edu - for Educational institutions
.gov - for Government organizations
.info - for information sites, such as news, libraries and similar
.org - for non-profit web sites and organizations
.mil - for Military web sites
.net - for hosting companies, domain name resellers, etc.
.name - for personal websites and web spaces

A TLD can also refer to the country where the site is hosted. So 'yourdomain.us' would refer to a site in the United States. There are many others such as '.hk' for Hong Kong, '.sg' for Singapore, '.uk' for the United Kingdom; the list goes on. A country TLD may also mix TLDs such as a .com and the country TLD giving you something similar to '.com.hk' for Commercial Enterprise site in Hong Kong.
So now that we know what the domain name is, how does this relate to the 'IP address' mentioned in the start of this section?

Every location on the Internet has to have an associated IP address, just like every house in the world has its own individual mailing address, when you consider every portion that makes up a mailing address. As you know, a mailing address is made up of just enough parts that you can zoom in on the exact location on the planet by stepping through each part of the address; such as house number, street name, apartment building, city, province, state and zip code. The same is true of an IP address:
208.109.181.138
Look at the address above. If someone verbally quoted this string of numbers to you in reference to a website they thought was good, could you remember the numbers? Probably not. But each domain name is a way of pointing people to the correct IP address without having to remember the numbers.

Let's consider a popular domain name such as yahoo.com. If you are a Windows user, click 'Start', and 'Run'. In the box, type in 'cmd' and click 'OK'. You should see a funny black box appear on the screen. In that box, type 'ping yahoo.com'. You should see something on the first line similar to this:

Pinging yahoo.com [68.180.206.184] with 32 bytes of data:

This means that the IP address for yahoo.com is 68.180.206.184. The IP address for your web site will be different. But from this small example you can see how a domain name is the method for making it easier for people to remember and access you, or your business, on the Internet.

The registration process consists of requesting a domain name and domain name extension. If your domain is available, you can register it for a period of time that you specify during the checkout process. You may also want to consider registering multiple domain names to:

• Keep your competition from registering a domain name that draws customers to them instead of you.
• Promote the different products and services you offer.
• Drive more traffic to your Web site.
• Enjoy more opportunities to market to, and be listed on, search engines.
• Create distinct advertising strategies that reach different target markets.
• Provide customers more ways to find you when searching the Internet.
• Capture common misspellings of your domain name, instead of sending visitors to an error page.
• Protect your brand and online identity from those who may have unsavory purposes.

To get started, you need to check if the domain name you want is available.

To Check a Domain's Availability

1. Go to our Domain Registration page.
2. In the Domain Name Search field, enter the domain you want to register, and then select the domain TLD extension from the list.
3. Click Go.

If the domain requested is taken, you will be presented with available alternatives. You may be able to select a .INFO or .WS domain extension, rather than a .COM. For example, you could register www.coolexample.info, instead of www.coolexample.com.

If the domain is available, follow the instructions to complete the checkout process. As you complete your registration, include valid contact information for each contact. ICANN, the governing body for domain names, requires valid information for your contact information (Registrant, Technical, Billing, and Administrative). If you enter false information, your domain is cancelled.

Your contact information is public and accessible through the Whois databases of most registrars. However, you can protect your privacy by registering your domain with us using our private domain name registration services. See the Protecting Your Privacy section later in this page.

It happens many times on the Internet daily, a credit card expires, a change of an email address and no update to the domain contact information. And then, someone close to you, or a social engineer, or your competitor transfers your domain name away without your permission.

When the domain name goes, everything else goes, too! One oversight and you could lose the domain name you worked so hard to get. That means any Web site or email services associated with it will stop working.

Even huge corporations fall prey to these problems. In 2004, email service at The Washington Post was disrupted after its domain name was shut down because the company failed to renew its annual registration. And when a multi-national accounting firm failed to renew the domain name for their educational Web site (due to a clerical error), a pornographer grabbed the domain. While the accounting firm eventually retrieved the domain (for an undisclosed price), the damage had already been done, resulting in shocked parents, teachers and children.

All of this can be avoided by protecting your domain names with a service called Protected Registration. The service is packed with the safeguards and security you need to maintain ownership of your domain names:

Exclusive Domain Ownership Protection:

• Expiration Protection protects you from credit card expiration, failed billing, or outdated contact information.
• Deadbolt Transfer Protection: makes it impossible for MOST transfers to occur -inadvertent, accidental, malicious or otherwise.
• Ownership Protection Reports: quarterly email updates help you keep track of vital domain information.

If you are concerned with keeping your domain name private, locked and protected with the most secure domain ownership protection available, add the Protected Registration option when you register your domain names.

Private Registration

When you register a domain name, you must provide valid contact information such as your address, phone numbers and email address. This information is then held in the 'WHOIS' system. This system contains registration information for all of the domains registered on the Internet.

The 'Private Registration' service protects your identity from spammers and scam artists that use this WHOIS data to build their mailing lists. This service may or may not be transferable to a new owner and you should consider its value for domains that you are reselling.

When you purchase our private domain registration services, the Whois directory lists Domains By Proxy's name, postal address, and phone number instead of yours. Although Domains By Proxy is the registrant of your domain name registration, you still retain the full benefits of domain registration allowing you to:

• Cancel, sell, or transfer your domain registration.
• Revert the registrant listing for your domain registration back to you.
• Renew your domain registration when it expires.
• Designate the name servers for your domain.
• Resolve claims arising out of a dispute involving your domain registration.

Business Registration

Recently, the WHOIS system has implemented the option for a business to add their information, similar to a Yellow Pages advertisement, to their WHOIS record. This service could be a valuable source for driving people to your main site to view all of your products and services

Business Registration provides need-to-know information about your organization in the Whois database - including a map to your store, snapshot of your Web site, description of your business, phone number, links and more.

• Vital information about your business or organization
• Visible to millions who search the domain name (WhoIs) database
• Affordable online advertising investment
• Includes FREE 1-page Online Business Card Web site
• Space to display up to 4 images and 4 hyperlinks - perfect for driving customers to specific pages of your website

This service is highly recommended as a great way to start out your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) planning by providing links to your site from the WHOIS database.