What is a Domain Name?

Many new customers ask "what is a domain name"? A domain name is a Web address, such as MYDOMAINNAME.com, that is linked to an IP address (which represents a physical point on the internet). The Internet Corporation for Assigned names and Numbers (ICANN) is the governing body that coordinates links between IP addresses and domain names across the Internet, so you can find Web sites by entering domain names instead of IP addresses into your Web browser. Domain names are a type of virtual real estate.

A domain name consists of a top-level and a second-level domain. A top-level domain (TLD), or domain extension, is the part of the domain name located to the right of the dot (mydomainname.com). The most common domain extensions are .COM, .NET, and .ORG. Some other popular domain extensions are .BIZ, .INFO, .MOBI, and .US. These common extensions have certain guidelines, but are usually available to any registrant, anywhere in the world.

There are also restricted top-level domains (rTLDs), like .AERO, .EDU, .MIL, .MUSEUM and .PRO that require registrants to represent a certain type of entity or to belong to a certain community. For example, the .PRO domain extension is reserved for professionals, while .EDU is reserved for educational entities.

Country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) are for Web sites and registrants of a particular geographic location, such as .BZ (Belize), .CN (China), .DE (Germany), .EU (European Union), .IN (India), .UK (United Kingdom), and .US (United States). Restrictions for ccTLDs vary by country.

The part of the domain name located to the left of the dot (mydomainname.com) is called the second-level domain (SLD) name. The second-level domain name is the "readable" part of the address and refers to the organization or entity behind the Internet address. Second-level domain names must be unique on the Internet and registered with an ICANN-accredited registrar. As an ICANN-accredited registrar, you can register domain names through Name.com.