If
you are reading this page on the
internet, then you are already
using domain names, even if you
don’t understand the principles
involved. But what is a domain
name? A technical term for the
‘address’ of a particular
website on the internet, the
domain name tells your browser
where to look to access the
pages you want to see. The
domain name for this website,
for example, is “webcousa.com”
and you arrived at this page
from clicking through one
webpage to another, moving from
one domain name to another, or
by typing the exact address into
the address bar of your browser.
What is a URL?
URL stands for Uniform Resource
Locator, and forms the entire
address used to access a
particular website, including
the domain name. URLs were
devised as an easier form of
internet navigation over IP
Addresses that traditionally
identify the host server for a
website through a series of
numbers. A URL uses easy to
remember words and letters to
replace the impractical IP
Address method. Therefore, a URL
for the WebCoUSA website would
be ‘http://www.webcousa.com’ and
will contain the Hypertext
Transfer protocol” (http)
allowing you to use words
instead of an IP Address, and
the domain name itself
(www.webcousa.com) identifying
the server and the particular
files on that server to be
accessed.
What are Top Level
Domain Names?
You may have noticed that some
domain names end in fewer dots
and letters than others. For
example, the domain name
mysite.com has fewer components
than mysite.info.
Dot Com domains (.com) was the
first domain style to be
introduced, and is considered a
Top Level Domain or TLD as it
features only one suffix. Top
level domains also cover any
other domain name form that only
has one suffix – for example;
.net, .info, .biz, and so on.
What are Subdomains?
Subdomains are additional
sections to the url that further
divide the existing domain name.
Subdomains take the form
www.subdomain.webcousa.com,
placing the new section title
before the primary domain name
identifier. This is most
commonly seen with blogs, as it
cleanly partitions off a section
of the domain for this purpose.
Subdomains do not need to be
registered separately from your
existing domain name, and can be
created as you build your
website.
In Summary
Although there are many more
issues involved with domain
names, particularly as new
domain suffixes and rules are
created on a regular basis, this
is enough information for you to
be able to start working with
domain names for your website.
Of course, before you can use a
domain name, you will need to
register it, and WebCoUSA.com
has the best value domain name
registration packages in the
area.
