Domain Registration

Domain names serve to identify Internet resources, such as computers, networks, and services, with a text-based label that is easier to memorize than the numerical addresses used in the Internet protocols. A domain name may represent entire collections of such resources or individual instances. Individual Internet host computers use domain names as host identifiers, also called hostnames. The term hostname is also used for the leaf labels in the domain name system, usually without further subordinate domain name space. Hostnames appear as a component in Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) for Internet resources such as web sites (e.g., en.wikipedia.org).

Domain names are also used as simple identification labels to indicate ownership or control of a resource. Such examples are the realm identifiers used in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), the Domain Keys used to verify DNS domains in e-mail systems, and in many other Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs).

An important function of domain names is to provide easily recognizable and memorizable names to numerically addressed Internet resources. This abstraction allows any resource to be moved to a different physical location in the address topology of the network, globally or locally in an intranet. Such a move usually requires changing the IP address of a resource and the corresponding translation of this IP address to and from its domain name.

Domain names are used to establish a unique identity. Organizations can choose a domain name that corresponds to their name, helping Internet users to reach them easily.

A generic domain is a name that defines a general category, rather than a specific or personal instance, for example, the name of an industry, rather than a company name. Some examples of generic names are books.com, music.com, and travel.info. Companies have created brands based on generic names, and such generic domain names may be valuable.

Domain names are often simply referred to as domains and domain name registrants are frequently referred to as domain owners, although domain name registration with a registrar does not confer any legal ownership of the domain name, only an exclusive right of use for a particular duration of time. The use of domain names in commerce may subject them to trademark law.

1. They are short

Good domain names are short. It is not a coincidence that all the three-letter and four-letter .com domains are already gone, and that the five-letter ones are going fast as well.

There is no definite number of characters that you should aim for, just remember that the shorter the better. If you really need some guidance, try to go below 10 characters, and never exceed 20.

As for the number of words, one-word domains are gold, two-word ones are good, three-word domains are average, and above that it is usually a bad idea.

Example: Quotes.com is a superb domain and probably worth millions of dollars. ProQuotes.com is a good two-word domain worth thousands of dollars. ProQuotesNow.com is an average domain and could be used for a website. YourProQuotesNow.com is plain worthless.

2. They are easy to remember

Many Internet users do not use bookmarks. They just memorize the domains of their favorite websites and type them whenever they wan to visit one. Guess what, if your domain is complex and not easy to remember you will lose these visitors along the way.

Example: Brcwr.com is a short domain name, but is not easy to remember at all, so it would be a bad idea to use it for your website (unless the initials represent the name of the website or a memorable message).

3. They are easy to spell

The last thing you want is visitors misspelling your domain and ending up somewhere else.

Avoid unusual foreign words, words that have complex pronunciation, strange combinations of letters and anything else that might cause someone to misspell your address.

Example: CappuccinoBar.com might be problematic for English speaking visitors. Cappuccino is an Italian word, and not everyone is aware where the doubles are placed.

4. They have a .com extension

Organizations might prefer to register a .org domain, and companies targeting very specific geographical regions might want to register a local domain (e.g. .it, .co.uk, .cn and so on). Apart from these cases, however, a .com domain is always the best way to go. This extension is the most popular around the around, and it is already stuck in people’s mind.

Visitors coming to your site via search engines or organic links will pay attention mostly to the name and not to the URL. The next time they want to visit your site it is very likely that they will just type its name followed by a .com. Guess what, if you are not there when they hit enter they will just go somewhere else.

Example: Darren Rowse created his popular blog on Problogger.net. Despite having a strong brand, some visitors were still going to Problogger.com. After a couple of years Darren decided to buy the .com version for $5,000 and redirect it to his site, so that no more visitors would leak.

5. They are descriptive

Many visitors will come to your site through the search engines and via direct links on other websites. That is, they will come if the domain that they will see will be appealing.

Having a descriptive domain name will give visitors an idea of what your site is about even before they enter it. If related keywords are present in the domain it might also help your search engine rankings.

Example: You would be able to guess what TelevisionGuides.com is about even before visiting it right?

Put it in another way. Suppose you are searching for a movie review. You make a quick search in Google. The first result comes from MikesLair.com. The second result comes from MoviesCentral.com. Which one would you rather click?

6. Or brandable

A brandable domain will have a nice pronunciation, an interesting combination of letters or simply an appealing visual effect. Sometimes they will not be descriptive, but they can be equally efficient.

Brandable domains will make your visitors associate the name with your website and its content. (Notice that brandable domains can be descriptive at the same time, but that is not always the case.)

Example: Kotaku.com is one of the most popular gaming blogs on the Internet. The domain is not descriptive at all, but the brand is so strong that gamers immediately recognize it across the web.

7. They don’t contain hyphens or numbers

Domain names containing hyphens and numbers are cheaper for a reason. They suffer the same problem of domains not using a .com extension or with complex spelling.

Consider Tech-World.com. The names that will stick in people’s mind are “tech” and “world.” Many visitors will just forget the hyphen along the way. Eventually they will try to access your site by typing TechWorld.com, in vain.

Numbers, on the other hand, will confuse people with the spelling. Suppose you registered Tech5.com. Visitors might mix it with TechFive.com, if they manage to remember the number in the first place!

Example: Coolest-Gadgets.com is an extremely popular gadget blog, with over 70,000 RSS subscribers. With such a huge readership you get people often typing the domain directly on the address bar. Needless to say that many of them would just forget to add the hyphen. The owner of the site bought CoolestGadgets.com afterwards to fix the problem.

Final remark

Do not get discouraged if your current domain doesn’t have all these characteristics; or if you can’t find one that does. These are just factors that you should consider when evaluating domain names.

There are plenty of examples of popular websites with domain names that lack in one or two points covered on the list. Just make sure that your domain has most of the characteristics and you should be fine.

What is a domain name?

Just as houses have their addresses websites have domains. Your domain name is connected to a specific IP address (numerical address used by machines) of your website – it serves as the online address of your website. It is also the first online point of contact of your brand with your customers. The domain name of this website is “domain.me” and that's what you type in your browser every time you want to check out the latest posts on our blog. For Apple, that is “apple.com ”. mom.me is a domain name too. This domain name consists of two parts, a second level domain (SLD) and a top level domain (TLD). A second level domain is the name of your website, “mom” in this case, or “domain” in our case. Everything that comes after the dot is a top level domain, often called “domain extension”, and in this case that is .ME. Together, SLD and TLD form what is considered a domain name or your website’s address. If you want to know more, check out this blog post.

What is DNS (domain name system)?

Domain Name System (DNS) is a system of Internet servers which identify domain names and translate them into IP addresses. The DNS is made up of thousands of computers referred to as servers which host websites. It basically serves as internet phone book. Each computer on the Internet is assigned with their own address, an IP address, in a form of strings of numbers. Your domain name is connected to the specific IP address of your website – it serves as the online address of your website. Thanks to the DNS, instead of typing 50.63.201.97. to enter this website, you can just type domain.me in your browser and learn all you need to know about domains. Back to Basics: What Are Domain Names and How Do They Work.

What is an IP address?

To be able to communicate all computers and other digital devices on Internet have an address. That address consists of a series of numbers and is called Internet Protocol address or IP address. When you type in the domain name of the website you want to visit, it has to be translated into a number by a specific system. So, in order for the connection to get established - these names have to be translated to numeric equivalent, i.e. IP addresses. It is possible for one IP address to represent more than one domain and/or subdomain. You can do that by having control over an authoritative DNS server for the required domain and subdomain names. Then you'll have to point all those names to that single IP address and all subsequent name resolution request will point to the said IP address as the destination address.

What is a subdomain?

A subdomain is a domain that is part of a "larger" (root) domain; the only domain that is not also a subdomain is the root domain. For example, if we take blog.yourwebsite.me, .ME is a TLD or a first-level domain, yourwebsite.me is a second level-domain and blog.yourwebsite.me becomes a third-level domain. People occasionally refer to subdomains as third-level domains. For example, “blog” here is a subdomain of “yourwebsite.me”. At the same time, “yourwebsite.me” is the root domain or “blog”. While subdomain may be part of the main website, it’s considered a separate entity by search engines. People recognized this and decided to use subdomains for various organization purposes or even when they don’t want certain parts of their website to be indexed by Google with the rest of it. Subdomains are usually used to: create different websites for niches of users, separate your blog or e-commerce site from your main website, create a separate mobile site or if you have a large number of users that build profiles on your root domain. Find out more here.

What do I use a subdomain for?

While subdomain is part of the main website, it’s considered a separate entity by search engines. People recognized this and decided to use subdomains for various organization purposes or even when they don’t want certain parts of their website to be indexed by Google with the rest of it. Subdomains are usually used to:

Create Different Websites for Niches of Users -This is especially true if you cater to different regions and content and language of your website need to be customized for each region. Sometimes it’s easier, both cost and performance wise, to create several entirely different websites than to maintain one heavy multi-lingual site.

Separate Your Blog or E-Commerce Site from Your Main Website You may wish to do this due to the size of your blog (which can grow to enormous proportions), different blog design, different CMS, or the fact that serves a completely different purpose than your main domain.

Create a Separate Mobile Site You can use a subdomain to provide a mobile-friendly experience for your visitors. Instead on working on a responsive site with elements that work on all screen-sizes, you can opt for an adaptive approach that represents a unique experience for each screen size.

If You Have a Large Number of Users That Build Profiles on Your Root Domains A downside of having many different subdomains, especially if you give or sell them to others for use is that there is one instance when subdomains and their root domains are regarded the same; in instances when a subdomain is flagged as for phishing by users. If you have 10 subdomains, and only one of them gets flagged for phishing, the root domain and the remaining 9 subdomains will be marked for phishing as well. If you want to learn more about subdomains visit our "What Are Subdomains and How do They Affect Search Engine Optimization" blog post.

How can one IP address represent more than one domain and/or subdomain?

To be able to communicate all computers and other digital devices on Internet have an address. That address consists of a series of numbers and is called Internet Protocol address or IP address. When you type in the domain name of the website you want to visit, it has to be translated into a number by a specific system. So, in order for the connection to get established - these names have to be translated to numeric equivalent, i.e. IP addresses. It is possible for one IP address to represent more than one domain and/or subdomain. You can do that by having control over an authoritative DNS server for the required domain and subdomain names. Then you'll have to point all those names to that single IP address and all subsequent name resolution request will point to the said IP address as the destination address.

What types of domain names are there?

Top level domains are the highest level in the structure of the Internet - the Domain Name System or DNS. There are two-letter domains like .me, .de and .cn, which all stand for countries and regions and these are called country code top level domains or ccTLD. .com, .net, .org and others are generic top level domains or gTLD. There are also IDN ccTLD - internationalised country code top-level domains or just IDN which means these domains can have Chinese, Arabic, Cyrilic or other Latin characters in them. The domains can also be first level, second level or third (or more) level domains, but also subdomains.

What characters and symbols can be a part of a domain name?

A domain name that is not an IDN (internationalized domains) can only have ASCII alphanumeric characters and hyphens. All other characters are not accepted. .ME does not have IDN domains yet.

How long can a domain name be?

A domain name max length is 63 characters, including the dot and the domain extension. So if you are lucky to have a domain like me.me you have a 5 character domain. Many would say that it is a two-letter domain, but then the max domain length for .me would be 60. The complete URL length may not exceed 253 characters.

What should I keep in mind when choosing a domain name?

Follow the short-and-sweet rule

Although the length of a domain name is not an SEO factor, avoid names that are too long or confusing. Aim at one that’s easy to remember and natural to type in the search box. Set a limit to 15 characters. Avoid hyphens If your domain name consists of two words, you may want to separate them with a hyphen. However, you should know that hyphens are associated with spammy websites, so it’s not recommended to use more than one.

Don’t use numbers

When someone hears the name of your website, it might be confusing if they are supposed to type in numbers or words (e.g. 2 or two). You should shorten and simplify the road between the user and your website as much as possible.

Do a domain name radio test

Imagine your domain name gets pronounced on the radio. Will the listeners know what exactly to type just by hearing the name? It is advisable to avoid similar sounds (e.g. “C” sounds both like “see” and “sea”; “U” sounds like “you”), and dashes (they cause confusion).

Find out more here.

Do I get a website when I buy a domain name?

No. A domain name is an address that points to your website. Registrars often offer a domain with a website builder, hosting or other services that are connected with a domain, though.

How does a website domain name impacts its SEO ranking?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques implemented with the goal to achieve better ranking in the search results page in order to maximize the number of website visitors. Before choosing the perfect domain name, you need to understand keywords in domains: According to our research, personalized domain names are gaining momentum: 72% of those surveyed stated they find it very important for professional success. If you can manage to incorporate keywords along with your brand - that’s great. But don’t insist on keywords at the expense of your brand: it’s simply not worth it. If you want to boost your ranking in the search results page, learning about SEO is a must. You can find everything you need to know in our free eBook "The Secrets of Better Rankings: SEO and Domains".

What is the difference between a domain name and a URL?

URL or Uniform Resource Locator is the whole string of letters and numbers. It points to a location of a specific page/image/video, or resource in general, on the web. It is comprised of several components, all of which let the server know which resource you want and in which format it should be presented in. For example, https://domain.me/blog/ is a URL while domain.me is a domain name. https:// represents a transfer protocol and directs how data from a web page will be transferred to your browser. You can see that domain.me uses S, like in Secure – HTTP Secure protocol, which adds a layer of security on information that is being transferred from its server to you and back. This is especially important if you are on an e-commerce site or any kind of site that asks you to make a payment or send any kind of personal information. As for us, we just like to keep things extra secure for you. Find out more here.

What happens if I don't renew my domain name?

If you do not renew the domain name it will expire and eventually get back to the pool of available domains. For instance, after a .ME domain expires it is automatically auto-renewed (provided that the sponsoring registrar allows for auto-renew period) and the domain holder can continue to use it after paying a renewal fee. If the holder does not renew it, the subject .ME domain will be deleted and it will enter a 30-day redemption grace period. During this period the domain holder may redeem the domain but for a higher price (prices are set by the sponsoring registrar). If the subject .ME domain is not redeemed it will enter a 5-day redemption grace period when no changes could be made to the domain. After the redemption grace period a .ME domain becomes available for public registration.

What is the difference between a registrar and a registry?

Registry is a structured database of domain names, and registrar is a company that manages the reservation of internet domain names. For example, domain.me is a registry, and you can see the list of .ME accredited regitrars here: https://domain.me/accredited-registrars/. If you want to register a domain name, you will search if it's available at domain.me and if yes, then you'll go to a registrar's website to complete the registration.