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| Domain name basics - a few things you have to know about! |
What is a domain name?
Web sites are recognized by a unique IP number. For instance, 213.169.34.48. Imagine if you had to memorize dozens or hundreds of such numbers. For most people, this would be impossible. Domain names are a convenient way to represent IP addresses. Instead of 213.169.34.48, you use companyname.com. Computers on the Internet are configured to match domain names to correct IP addresses, so when you type companyname.com in your browser you are directed to the web page that matches 213.169.34.48 IP address.
Domain names usually consist of two parts. The second part of companyname.com is the top-level domain. Examples of top-level domains are .com, .net, .org, .us, .info, .biz. The first part is a unique name that is called a second level domain.
Top-level Domains
.com=commerce, .net=network, .org=organization, .us=united states, .info=information, .biz=business
Second level domains can have sub-domains. For example, products.companyname.com and services.companyname.com will direct you to two different pages of the companyname.com domain. Sub-domains are also called hostnames.
Technical Data
If you register a domain name, it is added to a large database that consists of all domain names in the world. Details about your domain name such as contact, billing, administrative contact and your domain name server (DNS) are entered into this database. Therefore, when you enter a domain name in your browser you access this large database and it directs you to the appropriate DNS to find out from its database which computer has the web site that you look for.
What characters can a Domain Name contain?
Domain names can contain alphanumeric characters and hyphens. Hyphens are not allowed at the beginning and at the end of a domain name and empty spaces are forbidden. Domain names can be up to 67 characters long, including the top-level domain. Some web browsers are unable to process domain names longer than 58 characters, so it is better to keep your domain name below that length.
Why do you need a Domain Name?
If you do not plan to set up a website now, there are still plenty of reasons to register a domain name today.
If you run a business and have brand names and registered trademarks that you want to protect, it is a good idea to register domain names for those brands and trademarks. Even if you do not wish to start an e-commerce business now and do not want to present your company online, it is better to register a domain name to have it available, if you change your mind later.
Thousand of domain names are registered every day and presently there are over 32 million registered domain names. Available .com, .net and .org domain names are running out and new top-level domains are being introduced, such as .biz, .info, .aero, .pro, etc. Most of the new top-level domains are reserved for a particular industry or group of people. Many domains in the new top-levels are already pre-registered for existing businesses and you cannot register a domain in the new top-levels unless you fulfill specific conditions.
It can take a long time to find a desirable domain name that has not been already occupied. Nearly every three, four and five letter English word already exists as a domain name. The only three letter domains that are available are alphanumeric combinations like 55Z.com that nobody wants to take.
Your Web Site
Today almost everybody has a web site. If you surf the Internet and know how to use a word processor, you will probably be able to make a simple web site, even if you do not know anything about website creation. You can find many programs and ready-made modules online that will help you with this task. You can also find many free images, ideas and scripts on the Internet that will allow you to create an attractive and dynamic web site.
Find a suitable name for your web site. If you are building a personal web site, you can use your name for domain name. If you have a rare name, you have good chances that the domain is still available. You could also use your hobbies or interests to come up with a suitable domain name to register.
Your Business
Trademarks
If you own a trademark, try registering the name of the trademark as a domain name as soon as possible. If you are late, you may encounter legal problems to get the domain name that matches your trademark. There are people, called cyber-squatters, which register domain names for existing trademarks in hope of blackmailing the owner of the trademark for a large sum of money. If you are tempted to become a cyber-squatter, you should know that ICAAN and InterNIC have taken measures to prevent such kind of actions and to make them illegal.
Nowadays, the prices for registering a single domain name are as low as $19.95 per year. Therefore, it would be much better to register the domain names that are appropriate for your business today for a few dollars, than buy them latter from the secondary market, where they could cost thousands of dollars or fight legal battles to receive the domain names that correspond to your trademark.
Products and Services
It is a good idea to buy domain names that are connected to your products and services. This could improve your brand recognition. Even if you do not plan to develop separate websites about your products and services this still could be a good investment. More and more companies decide to establish an online presence every day and good domain names are a very limited resource. The domain names related to your products can be worth a small fortune in a couple of years.
Investment Advice
If you plan to buy attractive domain names and sell them for a profit later, you should consider your investments carefully. Domain names cost cheap and it is easy to buy hundreds or even thousands of domain names. If you do not infringe on somebody else’s trademarks, there is absolutely no reason to stop you from acquiring a large number of domain names. However, only a very small fraction of domain names sell for a significant profit and if you are unlucky, you may be stuck, for indefinite time, with a large list of domain names that nobody wants. It is often more profitable to develop a web site and sell it together with the domain name.
In conclusion, if you plan to create a web site, but lack the time, and you have the opportunity to buy a good domain name now, buy it. You can develop the site latter on or sell the domain name if you no longer need it. You can keep a domain name registered to you for just twenty dollars a year.
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