A domain name is a digital address that supports your audience’s reach and access to your website. It is strategically important and can go a really long way if chosen right.
It helps to facilitate your marketing and creates a home in your audience’s mind. In this article, we understand what domain hosting is as a beginner’s guide.
What is Domain Name And How it Works?
A domain name is what your audience types in their browser to find you online. For example, when you plan to shop on Myntra, you enter myntra.com in your browser. This combination of the business name and extension is the general structure of a domain name.
How Does a Domain Name Work?
Technically, two aspects ensure the accessibility of any website: web hosting and domain name.
An IP address is formed by unique strings of numbers that help the audience find your website on the internet. However, it is not always feasible to write down the complex IP address every time you want to access a website.
A simple mistake in any number while typing can lead to no access at all. Also, remembering the IP address of every website you want to access is not possible. Therefore, a domain name came into existence powered by DNS, which converts hard-to-remember IP addresses into memorable names.
When a website carries its domain registration, the domain gets stored in DNS, which works like a phone book for domains. Whenever someone types a domain name on the browser, a request is transmitted to the DNS server root. The DNS then starts searching the database and pointing the DNS server to the associated IP address.
The browser then uses this to search for the web server and find the associated data pointing to the server-requested pages for the audience.
Types of Domain Name and Domain Structure
1. Top Level Domain Name
A top-level domain name is an extension that follows a dot in the domain name. The governing body that manages the domain is the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA). It takes care of its regulations, right to sell and domain registrars.
There are various types of top-level domain names, such as country code domain names like .uk or .in. Then, there are generic domains like .com and .in, and the list goes on.
2. Second Level Domain Name
A second-level domain name is basically your business name, which comes right before the top-level domain name. It helps your audience identify your business. In Myntra.com, Myntra is a second-level domain name.
3. Third Level Domain Name
The third-level domain name is also known as the subdomain name, which comes before the second-level domain name. The most commonly used subdomain is www, but there can be others like blog.myntra.com. Here, the blog is your third-level domain, which represents the blog section of the Myntra website.
How to Buy a Domain Name?
Domain purchase can be done from a domain registrar. Sometimes, web hosting providers offer domain names along with web hosting services. Therefore, you can buy a domain separately or together according to what suits you the best. There are certain aspects to keep in mind before you buy a domain name. These include:
- Checking its availability
- Researching a domain registrar that meets your requirements
- Customer support
- Pricing
- WHOIS privacy protection
- Domain age, and more!
Conclusion
Domain name purchase is an integral part of a strong online presence. Therefore, understanding its role and importance is extremely important before you buy a website domain.
This article covers a basic guide to what a domain is and how it works, along with its structure and the basics of how to buy. So, understand each aspect carefully before making the actual purchase.
