What is a Domain Name?
Most of us familiar with the internet think we know what a domain name is. According
to the American Heritage Dictionary, a domain name is a series of alphanumeric strings
separated by periods, such as www.hmco.com http://www.hmco.com, that is an address
of a computer network connection and that identifies the owner of the address.
A Way to Identify Your Site
But did you know that a domain name is really just another way of listing an IP
address, the unique numeric code that identifies a particular computer? If a person
types in widgets.com into a web browser, a domain name system server (DNS server)
looks up the name and matches it with the appropriate IP address. Periodically,
DNS servers will update their lists of domain names.
A Variety of Suffixes
Most countries around the world have their own suffixes, but the majority of top-level
domains that internet users see are .com, .org, .net, .gov, .edu, and .mil. .Com
is a commercial business. .Org are owned by nonprofits. .Net are network organizations.
.Gov are government agencies. .Edu are educational institutions, and .Mil is the
military.
.Com is Popular
Online store owners usually want the elusive .com suffix, because it¹s the suffix
that most internet users expect a business to have, and the one that most will search
for. But .com suffixes are harder and harder for businesses to get. It can take
many searches and domain name ideas to find the one that's both right for your company
and available. Many businesses make up words to use as domain names now, partially
to get a .com domain name. Two very popular examples are Google.com and Yahoo.com!
Buying Domain Names
There are two ways to purchase a domain name. You can buy a domain name from a domain
name registry, such as netsol.com or godaddy.com. You can also see these registries
to see which domain names are available or purchase. If the domain name is already
taken, these registries will allow you to see how owns the domain. If you really
want the domain and it¹s taken, you can approach the company who currently owns
it and make an offer to but it directly from them.
Have a BV Signature e-commerce professional contact me.