Most likely your website has a unique domain name that is specified by an IP address.
Some domain names are so common that you won't miss to hear them mentioned wherever you find people working online. By the way, are you addicted to twitter, facebook, LinkedIn?
Hey, what about this domain name called Google.com? Just to say, some people are habitually fond of the above named websites. Twitter and Facebook have got thousands members, not really thousands but make it to be millions.
Exactly what is an IP address?
In order to determine the location of a website or a server, an identifier is used by humans or computers. However, when it comes to humans, it is quite difficult to remember an IP address.
Humans Locate a Website Using a Domain Name
You see, the IP address is expressed in a numerical format. It consists of four numbers which are separated by periods which is also known as a 'dotted-quad.' An IP address looks something like this – 127.0.0.1.
Unique Domain Name
Search for your domain name.
Do you think it is easy to memorize those numbers? Well this is one of the reasons why a domain name was invented.
With the use of a domain name, a human can locate a website through user-friendly phrases or words. It is true that a domain name may consist partly of numbers, but they do not make up all of it, like what is seen with an IP address.
Format of a Domain Name
When it comes to formatting, a domain name has several parts. The first part is called the Uniform Resource Locator or URL for short. This tells the browser what the domain name is going to point to. This will usually be ‘http’ meaning that the browser can expect to locate a hypertext document.
A hypertext document is nothing more than a webpage. In some rare cases the URL may be ‘ftp’ meaning file transfer protocol. A webmaster may use this URL if he or she would like visitors to download files from their server.
"WWW" is the second part of the domain name and it stands for "World Wide Web." This phrase lets humans and computers know the site the domain name is pointing to is from the Internet. It is followed by the actual domain name, which may be a combination of numbers, letters or phrases.
A webmaster would be happier if the domain name is effective with SEO rather than just having a creative name. In order to do this, the webmaster makes sure that a domain name is chosen that has a widely searched keyword.
Domain Name Extension
The ending of the domain name has an extension. This will tell a person a little more concerning a website's origins. For example, the most common domain name extension is .com. This stands for 'commercial' and was originally intended for organizations in that vein.
However, this extension is used by just about every Tom, Dick and Harry looking to create a website. This is all for a good reason since most people who surf the web will think about .com before .biz, .org or .org pops into their head. That does not mean that the other extensions cannot become memorable. Just think of Wikipedia.org which is a vastly popular website in spite of its .org extension.
Domain name extension can also specifically point things out on a geographical level. Examples of this are .jp which stands for Japan or .fr which stands for France. The domain name can also be state-based such as .ca which stands for California. Both serve well as tools for localized Internet marketing.
They can get one from their own web hosting company provided that this service is offered or they may get one from a separate domain name company. Prices will vary with both options.
The typical cost will be somewhere between $6.50 and $35. I would tend to go somewhere with the middle of the road pricing. You know the saying – you only get what you pay for. Sometimes the low price is correlated with the word cheap. If you want good service or a good domain name, then you're going to have to pay the price.