Look at the URL of this website you will see http://www.webprotime.com , Here webprotime.com is my domain name. Domain names are the unique identity of a website. In other words, domain names are the address of the website. No two websites can have the same domain name. Thus domain names sure that when you type a site address, you will get it.
Basically, the unique identity of the website is IP address, not domain names, but IP address is hard to remember that’s why we use domain names. DNS(Domain name server) change the domain names into a corresponding IP address so that the site will be accessible. When we type a domain name, our browser search for DNS which finds whether the domain name exists or not. If it exists it convert this domain name to the corresponding IP address and search for it. For example, you can access Google directly by typing its IP address http://188.8.131.52/
Using the domain name have the following advantages:-
1. By using domain name it is possible to search for the website through a search engine.
2. Domain name reflects the purpose of the website, for example, the name of this website reflects that it helps to learn you how to create a website.
3. A domain name is easy to remember.
Today, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) manages the development and architecture of the Internet domain namespace. It authorizes domain name registrars. Domain name registrar are those through which domain names may be registered.
Types of a domain name
You have heard about a lot of many domain names like .com, .org, .net etc. Each domain name are identified by Domain Name Space. The domain name space consists of a tree of domain names. Each node in this tree holds information related to the domain name. The tree sub-divides into zones beginning at the DNS root zone. This is shown as
Broadly Domain Names are of two types:-
Top Level Domain
Country level Domain
Generic top-level domain name extensions started in the 1980s. At first, this set of generic top-level domains consisted of .com, .org, .edu, .gov, .net, .int, and .mil. Anyone can register a domain name using .com, .org and .net, but the remaining top-level domains have some restrictions. Only related institutions can register the .edu Domains. For example, .gov can only be registered by the government. After the introduction of the first 7 top-level domains, 13 new top-level domains now exist. The following 7 domains started in 2001 and 2002—.biz, .info, .coop .name, .pro, .aero and .museum. In the year 2003 ICANN introduce the remaining six—.Asia, .cat, .jobs, .mobi, .tel and .travel.
Most of the countries have a top-level domain related to a country-specific code. For example, Indian websites have a domain name extension .in; According to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), country code managers manage the use of these country-specific codes. If a website has an extension of .co.in which means it is a professional website of India. One thing is noticeable here that however, country-level domain name specifies a particular country, but they are not restricted to be used by the citizens of that country. Anyone around the world can register it and use it.
Choose a good domain name
As domain names are unique identity of your website, while choosing a domain name for your website, you need to remember some things.
- A domain name should be unique: Always try to choose a domain name unique so that people identify your website. If your domain name is something that is already used by another website, it will confuse the user. So remember to choose a domain name that is a unique identity of your website.
- It should be easy to Type: If your domain name is hard to type, due to spelling, length or the use of hard words or something that is never heard about, the user will not be able to find you and you will lose your costumers.
- The domain name should be easy to Remember: Choose that domain that is easy to remember so the user will remember your site name and will back when they require.
- Try to keep the Domain Name as Short as Possible: Short names are easy to type and easy to remember. Short domain name useless characters in the URL thus it is helpful in the case when you tell somebody about your website.
- It should reflect the purpose: Choose the domain that reflect the purpose of your website. For example, if your website is providing hosting services, and if you choose the domain name hello.com, nobody will search for your site.
How to Register a domain name?
The companies that look after the registration of domain names are known as registrars and you register your chosen domain with them if it is available for a specified number of years, 1 or 2 years probably being the most common. There are many domain registration services out there, enough to make your head spin, but I think you can go for GoDaddy or Name cheap. Both are just fine and the best thing is sometimes you can get a domain for $1 just first year. You should check out $1 Domain Coupon Page.
Ok, let’s crack on with registering that domain. You have decided you want www.example.com. You need to find a registrar to register it with, and if they provide hosting too, it might make it even easy. The main registrars that I use personally are Godaddy and Namecheap.
I tend to use Namecheap as I find them slightly cheaper than everyone else, plus I find the user interface of their website is extremely quick and easy to use. The process of registering a domain with the registrar is fairly painless once you know what you want and your domain is available
Registering a domain is very simple, you need to simply follow these steps:
- Check whether the domain name is available or not: To register your domain name, enter your required domain into the search box. Domain name registration website provides a search box where you type the domain name you want to register, if it is available, it will allow you to register otherwise it will show that this domain name has already been registered. A domain name can only be registered to one person, so if someone else has already registered it, you won’t be able to register the same. This is something like your mobile no, if you have a mobile no, nobody else can have the same. So once you register your own domain name, nobody else can get it. Now it’s yours for as long as you want it to be! If the domain is not available, try again using an alternative name.
- If it is available, continue to checkout: This part is just like purchasing any other product online. You simply follow the prompts through to the checkout. You may be offered related products, such as similar domain names or different top-level domains. To add these to your order, click “YES! Add these to my order.”. Otherwise, click “Continue to checkout”.
- You may be asked about selecting privacy on your domain or not. Not too big a deal right away as you can add it later and if your not sure what it is you probably don’t need it.
- Enter the DNS details of your host to point the domain to your hosting provider (Not got host yet, ok come back and set these after purchase, not a problem)
- If its available follow through on their wizard and purchase the domain.
Note that you must provide contact details. Domain name registrars won’t let you register a domain name without providing these details. This is a requirement by ICANN. You can use different payment methods like a credit card, debit card, internet banking, Paypal etc depend upon your registrar. Once you register your domain, you will get a confirmation email.
Ok so now you have registered a domain name for 1 or 2 years. So you can now do whatever you want with that domain, as long as it involves setting up a website lol. Usually, when you set up a domain you will be told it will be available for use within 24 hours, but I often find that it can take no longer than five minutes to become recognized if you are lucky and keen to set up your site immediately.
What is a sub-domain?
A sub-domain is a domain that is part of a larger domain. For example, http://forums.webprotime.com is not a domain, instead, it is a sub-domain. I have domain http://webprotime.com and create http://forums.webprotime.com by myself. Like domain names, the subdomain also provides a unique identity of a website, but you need not register it through ICANN, once you register a domain you can register it by yourself.
Sub-domain help to divide the website in a different part. Sub-domains are commonly used by organizations that wish to assign a unique name to a particular department, function, or service related to the organization.
It is not necessary to register a domain to get a sub-domain, you can also register a free sub-domain from a different website that offers this service for example webs.com. However, these sub-domains are not necessarily of your choice since others may also register this.
Creating a sub-domain is a very simple task. Once you purchase hosting, you have a control panel. Once you login to your Cpanel, you can see an option “Sub-domain”, just click on it. Now you need to enter the sub-domain you need to create and it is ready. You may not be able to understand this in this stage, but once you have your domain and hosting, you will be able to understand it by reading our remaining tutorials.
Why Not a Sub Domain?
- A domain name provides easy access for other people to get to your website.
- You have full control over it.
- You can sell it for a profit later if it increases in value.
- Much prettier solution than other services; wouldn’t you rather have https://your-domain.com than https://free-domains-for-you.othercompany.com – the first example is a lot easier to remember and tell people.
- Comes across as more professional. This shows you have made an investment in the long-term success of your company and its online branding.
So, to get started, pick a name and stick with it. Grab a pad and a pen and start thinking. Think of what it is you are selling, promoting or want to share with the world. Shut the radio off, and focus. Go into a quiet spot. Perhaps a window sill, a calm room or on the lawn. Whatever place you choose to be comfortable and invite the ideas in.
Using a Free Domain for Your Website
If you search on google “free domain” , you may get many websites that say that they are providing a free domain name. But please remember, nothing is free in this world. Nobody will provide you with a free domain.
You may hear about some website that provides domain like yourname.co.cc, your name.co.nr etc. These are not exactly domain names. Basically, they registered domain name co.cc and providing you sub-domain yourname.co.cc and you think these are domain names.
However, there are some websites that provide you with some facility that seems to like providing free domains. One of this is dot.tk, they provide domain name like yourname.tk. But you can’t register it directly. First, you need to register a sub-domain as mention in the previous section. Once you have a sub-domain you can go to this site and search for a domain name. Since these domains are virtual, you can’t host it. So you need to use URL forwarding. By URL forwarding you can forward yourname.tk to yourname.anydomain.com.
When you will go to register a .tk domain they will ask you to provide the address of your existing website. Just provide your sub-domain, and now you can access your website with this new free domain.
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