All About Website Names
by: AllinOneWebServices.com
This article will tell you all about website domain names including:
- What Are Website / Domain Names?
- DNS – Domain Name Server
- Domain Name Propogation
- Getting A Domain Name
- Anatomy of a Domain Name
- Website Domain Name Myths and Facts
What
Are Website / Domain Names?
Website names, or domains as they’re often called, are an easy
way to remember the location of a website. Computers actually remember
numbers better, so all websites are associated with both a numeric
address, called an “internet protocol” (IP)
address, for computers and a textual address (domain) for us mere
humans.
DNS – Domain Name Server
If you’ve ever tried to setup or fix an internet connection,
you may have come across the term “DNS Server”. This is
a computer on the internet who serves as a type of internet address
book – translating textual domain names into IP addresses and
back again for your computer.
When you type a website address into Internet Explorer, America Online,
or whatever web browser you use, that name is sent to a DNS server.
The DNS server
uses the name to look up an IP address. Your computer then uses the
IP address to contact the website. Because there are millions of
websites and they are constantly changing, being deleted or added,
a DNS server’s
sole purpose in life is to keep track of website domain / IP information.
Geek Stuff: Way More Info Than you Want To Know
There are many domain name servers on the internet and they all share
their information. As a result, when a change is made to a domain
name (a new domain is purchased, a domain is cancelled, a website
is moved
to a new host, etc.) the information must be spread across all
the domain name servers on the internet. As a result, this process
can take some
time. The act of spreading DNS information is called “DNS Propogation” or “Domain
Propogation” and can take up to 72 hours for most computers
on the internet to reflect the DNS changes.
Getting a Website (Domain) Name
Every website name, or domain name, must be unique on the internet,
otherwise computers would get confused about which website to visit.
As a result, services called Domain Name Registrars allow prospective
website owners to register websites and verify their uniqueness. The
process is somewhat like registering a corporation name, except it usually
can be done in a few minutes, rather than a few days. Domain registrars
typically charge anywhere from $5 to $35 per year to register a website.
You must pay your dues yearly, otherwise you may lose your website name
to someone else!
Anatomy of a Domain Name
When you view a website, the address (located in the browsers address
bar) looks something like this:
http://www.allinonewebservices.com
This name consists of three main parts:
The Primary Domain: com
The Secondary Domain: allinonewebservices
The Subdomain: www
The different parts of the address are separated by periods.
Geek Stuff: Way More Info Than you Want To Know
In case you were wondering, the http:// in our above example is the “protocol” or
language being used. It’s what tells a website I want to view
your information, as opposed to uploading or downloading files
(ftp://) or logging onto the textual command prompt securely (ssh://)
With few
exceptions, when you visit a website, you will use the protocol
http://.
Primary Domains
When the internet was first commercialized, primary domains were
intended to categorize websites. These categorizations included: .com Commercial
.net Internet Service Provider
.org Non-profit Organization
.edu Educational Institution
.gov Government Institution
.mil Military Institution
However today many government, military, educational, and non-profit
organizations use “.com” and many commercial entities use “.com”, “.net” and
a whole host of new primary domains, including “.biz”, “.info”, “.tv” and “.us” to
name a few.
The “.com” primary domain has become synonymous with the
internet and as a result these have become the most coveted domains.
However, most of the primary domains are available for commercial or
private use, excluding “.gov”, “.mil”, and “.edu”.
Secondary Domains
The Secondary Domain is the real meat and potatoes of the website
name. Most web site owners choose either a domain that reflects their
business name ( cocacola.com ) or that reflects the products, services,
or information on the site ( recipes.com ).
Subdomains
Subdomains are typically used to differentiate sections of a large
website:
mail.yahoo.com is for email
profiles.yahoo.com is for member interests and contact info
finance.yahoo.com is for stock market information
For most websites, the subdomain www. is the same as no subdomain at
all:
www.allinonewebservices.com is the same as allinonewebservices.com
Website Domain Name Myths and Facts
Myth #1: I can only have one domain (website name)
Facts: Absolutely NOT! You can own as many domains as you want! Each
one will usually cost between $6 and $35 depending upon which registrar
you use. You can even point multiple domain names to the same website.
CAUTION: Pointing multiple domains to one website can hurt your search
engine rankings!
Myth #2: “.com” addresses are better than the others
Facts: Because “.com” has become synonymous with the internet, “.com” addresses
are generally easier to remember. However, any primary domain will work.
A good rule of thumb is to consider how you will advertise your website.
If you expect most of the visitors to your website will be typing in
the address from business cards, flyers, TV ads, or other real world
media that they see, a “.com” helps avoid confusion. Most
people enter “.com” as the primary domain without thinking.
On the other hand, if you expect most of your website visitors to find
your site on search engines or other sites, where they will click a
link, then there is no confusion and any primary domain will do.
Myth #3: I should buy all the domains that are similar to mine (.com,
.net, .org, other spellings, etc.) For example if my main website
is beeftacos.com, I should also try to get: beeftacos.net, beeftacos.biz,
beeftacos.info, beeeftacos.com, meattacos.com, etc.
Facts: Hey it’s your money. The argument for buying all available
similar domains is that if a customer that is trying to get to your
website types your domain name wrong, they may go to a competitor and
you will lose the customer. Our thoughts: have you ever made a phone
call to a business and called a wrong number? Probably. First, it’s
unlikely you called a competitor to the business you were originally
trying to call. Secondly, if it was a competitor, did you immediately
switch your business to them? If you are so concerned that your customers
will go to another business if given a chance, then you’ve got
bigger problems with your business than which website name to buy.
Myth #4: Search engines use keywords in the domain name.
Facts: Yep…it’s true! If you can include keywords in your
domain name, it will help where you rank in search engines like Google
and Yahoo! This is not to say if you sell watches and your website is “acmejewelry.com” (which
doesn’t include the keywords “watch” or “watches”)
that you will not get listed on search engines. But having keywords
in your domain name does help.
Myth #5: Short names are better than long ones.
Facts: It depends. If you expect most of your visitors will be coming
from search engines and other sites where they will click a link to
your website—then long names aren’t bad. However, if you
expect a lot of visitors will be typing in your domain name from business
cards, TV ads, flyers or other media, then shorter is better.
Myth #6: Long names are better because I can include more Keywords.
Facts: Not really. Search engines generally limit how many keywords
they will pull from your domain name. You’re better off with a
medium sized domain with no more than three words.
Myth #7: If I forget to pay for my domain, it’s “no big
deal”.
Facts: Wrong! You should stay on top of your domain names and make
sure you reregister them in advance every year. Once you lose a domain
name, getting it back can be an uphill, expensive legal battle.
Myth #8: If someone has already registered the domain name you wanted,
you can’t force them to give it up.
Facts: It depends. If you would like to setup a website domain called “mypuzzles.com” and
it’s already registered, generally you’ll need to pick something
else. However, if someone registers a website called “JoesLobsterShack.com” and
you happen to be the owner of a restaurant called “Joes Lobster
Shack” and you can prove 1.) you’ve been in business for
umpteen years and 2.) You have trademarked the name “Joes Lobster
Shack” then you do have a leg to stand on. However, understand
the battle is not easy—it generally falls under the legalities
of trademark infringement.
Myth #9: If somebody owns the domain I wanted, and I haven’t
trademarked the name, then I can’t get it.
Facts: If you really have your heart set on a particular domain name,
you can always offer to buy the name from the owner. You will be at
their mercy, but sometimes it can be worth it!
Myth #10: Buying cool domain names, like “computers.com” and
reselling them is a great business.
Facts: The act of buying common domains to resell them to the highest
bidder is called “domain squatting”. While it can be lucrative
on a limited basis, we are not fans of this. Read the article Domain
Squatting for more info.
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