Introduction to Domains

Domain Name: The Definition

If you've ever typed a web address into the address bar of your favorite web browser, you've visited a domain. Domain names consist of a unique combination of letters, numbers, and hyphens. When combined, these characters create a domain name that is completely unique worldwide.

Domain names are often selected to serve as a short textual representation of the actual website. Take Domain.org, for instance. Just like you might expect to find at a website with this name, Domain.org contains a variety of easy-to-understand explanations of domains-what they stand for, how to buy one, and what's the benefit of having one. If you visit Nike.com, you'd expect to find information about the sporting goods brand and possibly an online store (which is exactly what is there).

What's In a (Domain) Name

Domain names don't have to be intuitive (although it's helpful for your prospective visitors). You could register the domain sdg93lf.org if you wanted. Any combination of letters, numbers, and hyphens ("-") is up for grabs with only a few exceptions.

A Domain name:

Must contain any combination of ASCII letters A through Z (these are not case-sensitive), digits 0 through 9, and the hyphen (-).
A hyphen cannot appear at the beginning or end of a domain name.
Domains should be between 1 to 63 characters long and must not exceed 255 characters.

The Secret of Domain Name Ownership What you don't know can hurt you when it comes to purchasing a domain. When you fork over money for a particular domain name, you are registering that domain and, therefore, become a domain registrant. It's important to note the difference between a domain registrant and a domain owner. While many people use the terms interchangeably, the term domain owner is actually incorrect. When you register a domain you are not given any legal ownership over the domain name, only the exclusive right to use it. For most individuals this technicality is irrelevant. However, there are times you should be aware of what it means (or doesn't mean) to be a "domain owner".

When you register a domain with a trusted webhost such as Domain.com, you are considered the legal registrant of that domain.

If you purchase a domain from a less than reputable webhost, the domain you pay for may not actually be registered under your name. Pursuant to terms in an agreement you may not have read in detail, the domain may be registered under the webhost's name instead of your own. The webhost in turn gives you permission to use the domain name as long as you host with them. If you try to transfer the domain away from the webhost or cancel your hosting account, they have the right to retain the domain name. Worst case scenario, you may have to purchase an entirely new domain name and hope you can recreate the same domain name awareness you'd already developed. Best case, you'll get charged an additional fee (frequently a very large one) to buy the domain back from the webhost.

The best advice is to do your research before you purchase a domain name. While all domain names are created equal, all companies that sell them are not. Find a domain registrar with a noted history of customer satisfaction. Many respected webhosts, such as Domain.com, offer free domain management tools to help you manage your domain and protect it from unauthorized transfers.

Top-Level Domains or TLDs
Whether or not you've heard the terms "Top-Level Domains" or "TLDs", you've interacted with them every time you type a web address into your browser. A TLD is the group of letters that follows the final dot in a domain name. For instance, the TLD for Domain.org is "org".

As of March 2009, ".com" remained the most popular TLD worldwide, accounting for over 46% of all registered domains. Although .com was originally created to designate commercial sites, anyone is allowed to register a domain with this TLD regardless of the website's intended function.

While many other popular TLDs have no restrictions on usage (such as .net, .org, .biz, and others), some TLDs are, in fact, limited to domain registrants that fit a particular criteria. On average, registrations for these TLDs cost more than unrestricted TLDs.

.jobs	.JOBS is intended to be included after the names of established companies with jobs to advertise. At this time, owners of a "company.jobs" domain are not permitted to post jobs for third party employers.
.coop	.COOP is a reserved exclusively for cooperatives. Only cooperatives, cooperative support organizations, and businesses owned by cooperatives are eligible to register a .COOP domain name.
.museum	.MUSEUM is restricted to museums, museum organizations, and individual members of the museum profession.
.aero	.AERO is restricted to companies, organizations, and individuals recognized as members of the aviation community, holding a .AERO Membership ID, or an Aviation Community Membership ID issued by SITA.
.gov	.GOV is restricted for use by government agencies in the United States.

A non-profit corporation called ICANN is responsible for the creation and system management of all Top-Level domains. ICANN, short for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, maintains a list of all available domain TLDs. As of March 2009, the list included 280 TLDs.

To TLD or to ccTLD . . . That Is The Question
In reality, ccTLDs are no different than traditional TLDs with one exception: each ccTLD was designed to designate domains relevant to a specific country. For instance, the ccTLD for Germany is ".de". Country code-based TLDs are particularly appealing to individuals and businesses operating outside the United States.

Plug the domain "Germany-Tourism.de" into your browser. Based solely on the domain name and its ccTLD, you might assume this domain represents a German-based company promoting tourism in Germany-and you'd be right!

Many ccTLDs are restricted for use by companies or individuals operating or living in the specified country. Other ccTLDs don't have these restrictions, leaving some room for creative domain naming. For instance, the ".la" ccTLD was created for the country of Laos, but is marketed as the extension for "Los Angeles."

Here are a few other creative uses of ccTLDs:

ccTLD	.Country Represented	Creative Use
.ad	.Andorra	Advertising agencies or classified advertisements
.am	.Armenia	AM radio stations
.be	Belgium	To "be" or not to "be"
.dj	Djibouti	Disc Jockey or DJs
.lv	Latvia	City of Las Vegas or the word "love"
.md	Moldova	People and individuals in the medical community ("medical domain" or "medical doctor").
.sr	Suriname	Marketed as for "senior" citizens.