What is a Domain Name?

What exactly is a domain name?

A domain name is essentially a unique address on the Internet/Web. It’s an easy way for the entire world to find you by typing that address into their browser software (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.).

You can choose any name for your business or your domain. Here are some examples.

• “Amazon.com” and “Ebay.com” are examples of a businesses that chose short memorable names, and hence domain names. Neither provides a clue to what the business is about.
• “Toys’R'Us” is a name that more closely reflects the mission of the business. It makes it easier for the average person to remember.

If your domain name is simple, easy to remember, and relates somehow to the subject of your website, you’ll get more interest and traffic. More traffic is what you’re interested in.Say you have a retail shop that sells green duck eggs. You have ducks that lay green eggs and there are people that come to your shop to buy your green duck eggs. There are also people all over the world that order eggs from you to be shipped through the mail.

The name of you business is “Green Duck Eggs”:

When people send you postal mail, they send to:

You have a telephone number for your shop. People can dial this unique number from anywhere in the world to order your green duck eggs.

Now, what if you want people to be able to find your business on the Internet (maybe have a web page) or an email address that is easy to remember? You need a domain name.

A domain name is what you type into your Internet browser software program on your personal computer to find things. (the domain name of the page you are reading right now is “parkeddomainmonetization.com”)

Domain names are also often what search engines, like Google, look for when people search on particular keywords. People may type in “green duck eggs” into a search engine describing what they’re looking for.

Search engines may then find your web page and, if you’re lucky, you’re domain name will be listed among the first few in the results section.

Domain names are simply Internet addresses. They usually end in “.com” or you may have seen other domains that end in “.net” or “.org”.