A Beginner’s Guide to Getting Your First Domain Name

What is a domain name? For some, this could be a very basic question. However, for beginners, understanding a domain name and its importance can get very uneasy.

Here’s a look into the a beginner’s guide to domain names and what you need to know before proceeding to get your website a domain name.

Understanding How Domain Names Work

Let’s just start with a simple explanation – a domain name is like an address that gets you to a particular website. The domain name of Google for example is www.google.com.

Domain names are like personal identifications that you cannot share with any other website. It was created to make Internet Protocol and addresses more accessible and easier to remember.

An IP address is a particular series of number assigned to every computer. It is difficult to remember because a typical IP address will look something like this – 191.125.180.120. Now you know why it is so difficult to remember. On the contrary, don’t you think a domain name is a better idea? Yes it is.

However, a domain names is not just remembered by people. They also need to be remembered by the Domain Name System or DNS. That’s because the DNS will translate the domain name into an IP address and route your request for reaching the site. They manage a large database of domain names. As a user, you don’t have to remember the IP address.

All you need to do is just type the domain name in the server and the DNS will identify the IP address that you are trying to search. That is why it is important to have a personalized domain name. You will understand this better when I explain the different parts of a domain name.

Different Parts of a Domain Name

The structure of a domain name consists of two parts. These are – the Actual Domain Name and the Top Level Domain Name. For example – www.google.com. Here, google is the actual domain name while .com is the Top Level Domain or TLD.

The actual domain name is the foundation of the structure, based on which the company’s domain name can expand to form a hierarchy of sub-domains.Example – in www.bbc.co.uk, an additional second domain is created.

Registering a Domain Name

To own a website address, you need to register your domain name first. Follow the step-by-step guide to get your domain name registered –

• First, you need to check whether the domain name you have chosen is not being used by someone else. You can run a search on the Whois database or 123 Reg. There are lots of other sites that offer a free domain name checkup service. If your search turns out to be empty then you know that your chosen domain name is not being used by anyone yet.
• Next, get your domain name registered. Different domain registration sites have different charges. 123 Reg for example will charge you a minimum of 99p for a domain registration.
• Once you are done, it’s time to get a hosting for your domain so that people can view your site when they type the domain address.

Choosing between Paid and Free Domain Names

You can get free domain names from website building sites like Wix, WordPress, Weebly, etc. Domain names created from this sites will look something like this –

www.yourdomainname.wordpress.com

www.yourdomainname.wix.com

Getting a free domain name might not always be good since you don’t get to own a sub-domain name. So if you ever decide to switch your service provider, the domain will not be portable.

Secondly, the free domain name will only be an extension to the service provider’s domain. That means your domain name will not be www.yourdomainname.com. There will always be a wordpress or wix added to it.

These are some of the disadvantages that you can avoid by spending a few bucks on a domain name. You can get your domain name from sites like GoDaddy and NameCheap.

You will have to pay a monthly or annual fee to the domain registrar to get your domain registered under your name.

The cost of registration can generally vary around $10 to $15 per year. However, the prices may vary. Initially it may turn out to be costly because there might be someone who already owns the domain name and is holding it for sale. It could also be that the domain name registrar is aware of the domain name being in great demand.

However, if you are using your company domain name, which is unique and different from the rest, then hefty price is not something that you will have to worry about.

Conclusion

This guide has been written mainly for beginners to give them an overview of what a domain name is and how it functions in the World Wide Web. Hope it helps you in getting your first domain name.