The Identity Aspect
Just as in real life your name is your particular identity with which the world recognizes you; a domain name is your particular or unique identity with which you are recognized on the web. Basically the domain name is the web site and email address that people use to find you or your company online.
The Technical Aspect
Websites are hosted in computer servers. The location of a website in a server is actually specified by a series of numbers, called the IP address for example: 34.671.987.31.
These numbers are quiet difficult to remember, so the domain names replaces the IP address to make it easy to find a web site. Domain names can contain numbers and letters, and hyphens, and can contain up to 67 characters if the name is very long an abbreviation may be considered. Domain names are not case sensitive.
Domains are classified according to their endings, a commercial organisation will go for a domain ending in .com., initially, .com extensions were for commercial projects, whilst .net's were for use by Internet Service Providers and .org's by non-profit organizations or groups. Now a days this original classification is no longer accurate, and anybody can register a domain name any how they please.
Therefore a domain level extension also known as a Top Level Domain is the letter combination to the right of the domain name, after the "dot". extensions like .biz, .name, .tv, etc., as well as country level domains .us for the US, .br for Brazil, .it for Italy, and so on.
The Business Aspect
A domain name is extremely important to a company's online existence, as a domain name provides a contact point for your business, organization, or venture. Almost every transaction on the Internet relies on a domain name to conduct trade, display Web pages, deliver e-mail, etc.
In order to trade or do business on the web, you need to build up your credibility. Having your own domain name is the first step in that process. If an online business does not have a domain name, it probably loses thousands of dollars worth of business because of this.
The Name Aspect
People remember website addresses based on domain names, so choosing a good domain name is crucial when creating a website and for the success of any online venture. Follow these tips when considering the domain name
- Short, easy-to-remember domain names are best.
- Choose easy to type and easy to say words
- Make sure the domain name describes the content of the site well and is not confusing.
- Domains ending with ".com" are the best, but ".net" and ".org" are also good options
- Domains like ".cc," ".name," and ".info" are not as well indexed by search engines, so avoid them.
