Domain names are site names that provide rememberable names to stand in for

numeric IP addresses. Before getting a web site on line you need to have a

domain name. These are the familiar web addresses such as yahoo.com that most

browsers use to find a particular web site. Domain names, in fact, are pointers

to a particular IP address and we use them because they are easier to remember

than a series of numbers. The Domain Name System (DNS) is a system that stores

information associated with domain names in a distributed database on networks,

such as the Internet. The DNS is what makes it possible to attach

hard-to-remember IP addresses (such as 193.456.28.8.) to easy-to-remember domain

names (such as "web-hosting-guide.org")

All websites have an IP address in the form 193.456.28.8. The domain name system

translates these numbers into names such as google.com. All domain names are

registered in a central registry maintained by InterNIC, a subsidiary of ICANN -

the organization which certifies domain name registrars. Domain names are

filtered through Domain Name Servers (DNS) which link IP addresses with domain

names. Each web site usually has a primary and a secondary DNS – duplicates that

increase reliability.

The first step in registering a domain name is to choose it. The name can be

almost anything you want, but to be most effective it should reflect the nature

of your website. If you are selling scented candles, for example, it helps to

have a domain name that has some reference to candles – scented-candles.org.uk

for example.

The rules for domain names are simple – only letters, numbers or hyphens are

allowed. Other than that, a domain name is limited to 70 characters, but you are

advised to keep it as short as possible. Domain names can be upper or lower case

– case is ignored by DNS but you can use a combination to make the name more

recognizable. Since DNS is case-insensitive, yahoo.com can be advertised as

YAHOO.COM.

Every domain name ends in a top-level domain (TLD) name, which is always either

one of a small list of generic names (three or more characters), or a two

characters territory code. There are several extensions available. The most

common is .com - it has even entered common vocabulary as a way to express

Internet activity – (I own a dot com business). Other extensions include .biz

(for commercial sites), .org (for non-commercial organisations), .net (for

organisations involved in Internet infrastructure) and .name (for personal

names). There are also extensions with more specialized uses such as .museum,

.aero, and .coop and are used exclusively by members of certain organizations.

In addition to these common extensions, there can also be a country code

extension such as .us (United States) or .uk (United Kingdom). The rules for

using country extensions vary, so you need to check with your registrar to see

if they are available to you.

All domains must be registered with a registrar that has been certified by ICANN

(Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers). There are hundreds of

registrars and their prices vary considerably. Although registrars are closely

regulated, they are permitted to offer their services through third parties; so

many web hosts offer a domain name registration service even if they are not a

registrar. The price of a domain name will usually be higher when dealing with

these third-party services.

Domain names are usually registered for a minimum of one year, although you are

permitted to buy up to a 10-year registration contract. Usually the longer the

registration contract, the lower the price, so if you are sure you will be on

the web for a considerable length of time you can benefit from a longer

registration period. Most registrars also offer a discount on bulk purchases. If

you own a number of domain names you can save money by transferring them all to

the same registrar.