Domains 101

I am going to introduce and simply what internet domains are for those who do not speak geek.

What is a domain?

We all know most websites end in .com, but many people do not realize what a domain address is or does. Think of internet domains as nicknames to people or organizations. When you tell someone where you are going you usually say “I’m going over to Bobby’s house”. You wouldn’t say “I’m going to 1234 Somewhere road Burnaby”.

A domain is translated into an IP address:

Bobby’s House = 1234 Somewhere Road in Burnaby.
www.google.com = 72.14.207.99 (may be different from your location)

What types of domains are there?

There are many types of domains that end in all kinds of combination of letters, eg. .ca is for Canada, .edu is for Education.  The most common is .com which was originally reserved for commercial use, companies. It is the most commonly used and remembered domain type, but because of this it is quiet hard to find common words or names that are not already taken.

Some examples of domain types.

How much does it cost to register my own domain?

Generally domains are very affordable from $9-$20 a year. Some of the newer domains like .travel are a lot more.

How can I tell if a domain name I want is already taken?

All domains are cataloged and recorded. The best way to check is to use a WHOIS service.

How and where can I register my own domain?

There are many different companies that offer domain registration which also known as registrars and can easily be found on google. I like supporting local companies and have used Namespro.ca for a lot of my business needs.

I’ve registered my domain. Do I have a website now?

No, you now have the 1st step in creating your website. I will venture into website hosting in a future post.

This post was meant to be a brief introduction to domains. As this was created during the 2008 Blogathon, I was not able to cover everything. If you have any questions or want me to go deeper into this topic let me know and I will keep updating this post.

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