Among the first-time site creators, the question arises as to what a domain is, why it is needed, where to get it and how to choose it. It is present on absolutely any resource, you just have to look up to the address bar of the browser. The domain name is the name of the site.
Why is it needed?
As a rule, any site of the World Wide Web is located on the servers of various hosting companies. These servers, like any computer, have their own unique IP address, which consists of numbers in a specific sequence. To search for a site you need to know this combination of numbers.
The problem is that on one IP address (server) there can be a thousand sites, and finding the right one is very difficult. For convenient navigation on the World Wide Web, they came up with each resource to give a unique name. Each site is assigned a unique domain name. This greatly facilitates the search for the necessary resource.
Rules for creating a domain name
A domain name is a combination of characters. There are certain rules for creating it:
- The length must be between two and sixty three characters.
- The domain name of the site can contain numbers from 0 to 9.
- It may have a hyphen, but not at the beginning or end.
- It must not contain spaces.
Any name consists of several parts that are separated by dots. Each part is a domain of different levels. As a rule, three levels of a domain are used for a site.
Domain Levels
They are determined by how many words separated by periods the name contains. First you need to decide on the audience of the resource and based on this choose a name.
For the first level, they can be divided into two types:
- Domains that indicate a geographical location. They show which country they belong to. For example, the .ru domain means that the site belongs to Russia, .ua to Ukraine, .au to Australia, .cz to the Czech Republic, and so on.
- Determining the type of activity. The .org domain indicates that the site is non-profit, .info - informational, .com - created for commerce.
It is worth noting that this classification is rather arbitrary, anyone can register in the domain zone . For example, a site ending in .cz may not have anything to do with the Czech Republic, and with the name .com you can not do business.
The second level domain is a unique site name. For example, a .ru site is owned by an organization or individual. By the way, since the names should not be repeated, when registering, verification of a domain name in a certain zone is necessary.
Third level - defines a resource inside a second level domain. Mostly free, but not very popular with professional webmasters.
What level to choose a domain
If the project is long-term and is aimed at making a profit, then you should choose a second-level domain. Yes, it is paid, but it does not cost much and eliminates the disadvantages that the third domain has. Despite the fact that it is free, it has several disadvantages:
- The name lengthens, therefore, it is more difficult to remember.
- As a rule, it is tied to a specific hosting; when changing the latter, you will have to change the domain.
- Since all services are free, you cannot demand anything from the owners of the host. Anything can happen to the site, and even there will be no one to make claims.
The third level of the domain can be selected if the resource is created in order to try your hand and gain experience.
Also, when choosing, it is worth considering what audience the site is focused on. If in Russian, then you should choose a .ru domain zone. For international or multilingual projects, .com is the best option.
How to choose a name
A domain name is a business card of a site, so you should not approach the choice after the sleeves.
Firstly, the more concise the name, the better. The name should be memorable and not too long. In the name, you can indicate the type of activity, for example avto.com, and it will immediately be clear what information the user will find on the page. But ivan.ru does not reveal much about the site, only if it’s not Ivan’s personal blog. If this is an online store, then the domain should contain its name. A name that contains a keyword is good.
Secondly, the name in the domain is mainly written in Latin, so you need to make sure that it is displayed correctly and is legible. You should not expect that all users know English, so there may be problems with writing letters that are not in the foreign alphabet (h, u, u, i).
Thirdly, before using words borrowed in English, it is necessary to verify the correct spelling.
Fourthly, it will not be superfluous to check the domain name for whether there are similar names in other zones. It’s okay if there are any, but when it’s a competitor’s resource, the user can mistakenly go to someone else’s page.
Domain name registration
Only a reliable partner needs to register a domain. You should carefully read the documentation and capabilities of the seller. No need to save, otherwise trouble may arise later. Registering a domain that costs 99 rubles looks very suspicious, and as a result, buying it, you can find that, for example, there is no admin panel. Or for resale, you will need to provide a stack of documents and perform many actions. As a result, a lot of nerves and strength will go away.