A domain name is the text people type into the address bar of a web browser. This shouldn’t be confused with a search engine search, although with Google getting into the browser market, all browsers will seamlessly connect to a search engine if you just type in a keyword or a brand name.
For example, the popular and successful high street retailer John Lewis’ main domain name is johnlewis.com and available at the web address: http://www.johnlewis.com/
The techier definition from webopedia is as follows:
“Domain names are used to identify one or more IP addresses. For example, the domain name microsoft.com represents about a dozen IP addresses. Domain names are used in URLs to identify particular Web pages. For example, in the URL http://www.pcwebopedia.com/index.html, the domain name is pcwebopedia.com.” http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/D/domain_name.html
Every domain name has a suffix that indicates which top level domain (TLD) it belongs to. There are only a limited number of such domains. For example:
- gov – Government agencies
- edu – Educational institutions
- org – Organizations (nonprofit)
- mil – Military
- .co.uk – commercial business based in the UK
- com – commercial business
- net – Network organizations
- ca – Canada
Because the Internet is based on IP addresses, not domain names, every Web server requires a Domain Name System (DNS) server to translate domain names into IP addresses.
If you need a website and matching email addresses then you need to own a domain name which your web development company should be able to use to setup your new website and email accounts.
Buying the right domain name is a very important step and can have a very significant influence on how people remember your brand and how the website ranks on search engines. We can register domain names on your behalf, take over your registration and advise on selecting the right domain name. Get in touch with us to discuss purchasing a domain names.
Here are some blog posts that offer some good advice on choosing a domain name:
Tips on Choosing a Good Domain Name
12 Rules for Choosing the Right Domain Name
Blog post Choosing a domain name for better search engine rankings