Every other person nowadays wants to establish an identity on the web. A web domain is no doubt a useful asset as long as the owner is aware of all the facts as to how to maintain it. The very first thing to ensure is to buy a domain name. This allows the identity establishment on the web.
Now what is a web domain?
Web domain is the space on the Internet or a site that is given a proper name that is a domain name. A domain name is supposed to be a radically distinct name that identifies an Internet site or a web domain. It is ideally made of two or three words that spells easy and represents the related business distinctly.
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A good domain name must enlighten a viewer instead of confusing him. The objective behind a domain name must be clear enough so as to make it a ‘traffic catcher’ or simply an online brand. A proper domain name comprises of two or more characters separated by dots. The end part is called the domain extension or top-level domain that will be discussed later on in this article. Now, the immediate question that arises is how to register domain names? There are certain steps to be followed.
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• As soon as the domain name is selected, it is verified so that no other person in the world owns the same. Otherwise some other name is to be tried out.
• Once a unique name is selected, the new account with username and password is created.
• Next a form is to be filled in with all the contact information while you purchase a domain name. The four contacts that one encounters while the domain name registration process are the registrar, Domain Account Manager, Technical Contact and the Owner Contact.
Another very important thing is the know-how of a domain name. After the registration of the domain name, the owner is empowered with the right to use that name to identify the Internet site for the period of time it remains registered to that owner. Each domain name aims an IP address on a host computer, which is again connected to the Domain Name Server where the files of this site are stored. When this domain name is typed in a web browser, the host computer gets the indication through the DNS or Domain Name Server. At least two Domain Name Servers are allotted to a single domain name.
What is DNS?
The DNS system is a series of servers that is supervised by the ICANN or The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number. And the Domain Name Server farther deals with the top-level domains. When a domain name is typed on a web browser the request is carried on to the DNS client service where the name is resolved using a specialized buffer-storage called the cache. The process is completed if the cache agrees the query. But recursion occurs when the DNS client server fails to resolve the query. In that case the query is passed on to other external Domain Name Server clients. But before dealing with the same, the external server assures the authorization of the query or the IP address to the related domain name. Once the authorization is ascertained the domain name is resolved and the whole process is complete. In case the query is answered negatively, a third DNS server is again knocked. Now, the DNS servers again supervise the top-level domains.
What are the top-level domains?
The last part of the Internet domain name is called the top-level domain name. The IANA or the Internat assigned Number authority farther classifies these top-level domain names into three categories, namely
• Generic top-level domains: This name is generally three letters long and represents the type of organization. Some examples of currently existing gTLDs are .com (used for commercial purpose), .net (used for network infrastructure), info (used for informational sites), .gov (used for Governments), .edu (used for sites accredited to the educational establishments), .biz (used foe business purposes), etc. the generic top-level domains were actually implemented in the year 1985.
• Country code top-level domains: This name is generally a two-letter word that represents a country and is essentially reserved for the same. They are used like .am (for America), .to (for Tonga), .ca (for Canada) .uk (for United Kingdom), .yu (for Yugoslavia), .in (for India) etc.
• Infrastructure top-level domain: The only top-level domain used for the internet-infrastructure purposes is .arpa. When the DNS was introduced in January 1985 the ARPA or Advanced Research Project Agency host names were changed by adding a .arpa extension.
Each domain name again contains a sub-domain that is actually a pre-name to the existing domain name. Sub-domains are basically folders within the main site directory that are used for various research areas, development, script testing etc. sub-domains are actually a means to jack up the ranking of one’s site thereby advertising banner exchange and resource mediums. A smart sub-domain website can manifold the potential traffic to about five times the traffic that visited the main site, provided the contents are not at all similar and that the viewers of the sub-domain are not redirected to the main site. A potential sub-domain fetches more listings to the site thereby increasing the overall ranking of the main site. An example may illustrate the whole thing. Suppose www.abc.com. is your main domain name, then the sub-domains for the research areas like mail service or traffic exchange will be created by adding .mail and .traffic extensions respectively just before the top-level domains.
Domain transferring
We mentioned about the domain registrar while discussing about registering domains. A domain registrar is a personnel who handles a domain name. The same also looks after the security of the domain name and the structures. Now, the cost of this same service varies greatly. Of course, the grade of service is also something that varies likewise. A domain owner can always change his registrar as and when he wishes to do so and the process is not that complicated. The cost for a domain transfer is just a nominal one, sometimes it comes just free of cost. There are registrars who would gladly transfer one’s domain in order to get the business and some may charge a minimum fee of around US$15. The process of domain transfer is a matter of five to seven days that the new registrar requires to review and formalize the request. The whole process does not hamper the accessibility to the website during the transfer session. The website address along with other information are kept unchanged.
What is URL forwarding?
If one finds his web hosting charges too much to afford, he can well ditch it and shift to the free website services. There is another problem with the free websites. Their names are rather messily big to be remembered. In such a case, it is suggested to go for URL forwarding. The very first step for the same is to look out for a reputable registrar and get the domain registry done. Once the domain name registration is done the owner can see his site by logging into the free site. Before that the domain name should be typed in the text box in the management section along with its physical location altogether. Then the whole thing is to be typed with a slash in between the free website address and the related domain name. As for example, if the free website is Giocite and the domain name is mesite, the owner should type www.giocite.com/mesite in the text box. The changes need to be saved. After this whenever a visitor types the domain name in the web browser, he is instantly directed to the desired site. This provides all the viewers a hassle free access to the website without the pain of remembering and typing messy and long web addresses. Thus one’s site gets the desired links and that too absolutely free of cost.
So, these were some outline knowledge about web domains, domain name, domain name registration, top-level domains, domain transfer and all the related formalities.
