Domain Names for Dummies

I get asked more questions about Domain Names than anything else. It's really not that hard to understand once someone explains it to you. I hope you spend the time to read this and gain some knowledge about your domain name, how it gets registered, where it gets registered, and how it works.

Tips on Selecting a Domain Name

Domain names are not case sensitive. "1GuyInAChair.com" is the same as "1guyinachain.com". When printing or displaying your domain name, use the first example as it helps the reader remember.

Selecting a domain name has five rules:

1. It should be spelled EXACTLY how it sounds. You just want to say your domain name with no confusion.
2. No hyphens. Some want to put a hyphen in the domain name but it actually hurts you more than help. For instance, "auto-loans.com" seems like a good name but "autoloans.com" will get a lot of your traffic because when people tell others where to go to see your site. Be creative. Try "LoanForMyCar.com" or "EasyCarLoans.com", etc.
3. Try to stay under 20 characters. Shorter is better. Again, be creative.
4. Avoid letters that repeat like "LoraAndMike.com". The two "A's" will get confused when typing and the result will often be "lorandmike.com". Can you see where I mistyped?
5. Use a ".com" if at all possible. Even if you are an organization with a ".org", acquire the ".com" name as well.

Registering Your Domain

Actually you are registering a "sub-domain" but for simplicity, we'll call it a domain name. The ".com" is the most prevalent and that is actually a domain. This last part of your domain name is actually called the Top Level Domain (TLD). Again, stick with ".com" if possible as that is what people will think of.

Your domain gets registered at a "registrar" where it gets broadcasted out to the Internet at a series of servers scattered throughout the world. The domain requires contact information for the a "whois" database. These contacts are usually the Registrant (owner), Administrator, and Technical. This allows people to search domain names across all Registrants. The domain also requires that at least two Domain Name Servers (DNS) be specified to indicate what specific servers will be contacted to determine the exact IP Address to travel to.

Domain Name Servers (DNS)

Sometimes referred to as the Domain Name System the Domain Name Server is server software running on a computer that waits for requests to translate a domain name into an IP Address. An IP address is assigned to a particular computer but a particular computer may have several IP Addresses. The DNS uses a "zone file" for each domain name to determine what IP Address to use. It can also contain reverse mappings which can resolve IP addresses into domain names. The zone file is where the domain's sub-domains are defined (i.e. www.domainname.com). All of the sub-domains can point to the same IP Address or different IP Addresses. The "www" sub-domain can point to one computer and a "mail" sub-domain can point to another.

Putting it All Together:

Here is my recommended way to get started. First, find a home for your domain. This is the web hosting company who will put setup a web site on a server for public consumption (or maybe a select group). Your web hosting company should also be able to register the domain for you or give you a tool to do so.

My company prefers to register the domain on behalf of a new client so that it's done correctly. I also help clients find a domain name that fits the ideal criteria and fits their business. In fact, I also pay the fee to register the domain name for my clients who also host with me. The client is ALWAYS listed as the Registrant and Administrator and the domain name belongs to them. I pay the fee to renew each year as long as the client keeps hosting their site with me.

I pay for the domain for one simple reason. It's a pain to deal with a domain that was registered somewhere else and not registered correctly. I always end up spending a great deal of time trying to unravel a problem for clients who registered their own domain name. I'd rather just pay the fee to register and build the cost to renew into the hosting so that the client doesn't have to remember to renew. I believe my clients have better things to do than keep up with details pertaining to their web sites.

Once you have established where your site will be hosted (with me I hope) and your domain is registered and pointing at the right server(s), you then get a developer to build the site and put the web site files on the web server. There are many people who can build web sites. There aren't many who can build them correctly. How can you tell which is which? You probably can't. They may show you samples of their work but then how do you know they really built them? Read more about my web development services and see some artists that I use.