Online presence of every business is necessary with the increasing trend of online shopping and internet marketing. The domain name is an initial step for any business to start online branding. Many people are facing difficulties with where to buy domain names. There are hundreds of these services available from different service providers at different prices. All services are used to perform the same functions but all these cannot be equal.
The second step after reserving a domain name is to get a hosting plan but sometimes a few hosting plans provide free domains. In this article, I will talk about what is domain name and how it works, which domain extension is perfect for your business and how to buy a domain name?
Table of Contents
What is a Domain Name?
The domain name is the address of your online business that every visitor uses to reach as your home has an address and your relatives or friends uses to reach. The domain name is the combination of company name and extension, there are no chances of conflictions because every domain has a unique address.
A web address is also known as the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and it has three components: protocol, domain name and World Wide Web. You can see the example of URL in the picture given below:
1. Protocols
Following are the two protocols used for the websites:
a. HTTP:// – HyperText Transfer Protocol
It is used for sending and receiving files or webpages (HTML pages) on the internet. It is basically the communication process between browser and website but HTTP is not encrypted. So, it is not used for the businesses having confidential data or information.
b. HTTPS:// – Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure
It is the secured version of HTTP that performs the communication between websites and browsers in a secure & encrypted manner. Nowadays, it is also a factor for getting ranked in the search engines.
2. World Wide Web
World Wide Web or simply www is a network of online content that was invented by Tim Berners Lee in 1991. It is a system that is used for interlinking of all documents and web sources with the help of hypertext links. It is optional, you can directly use https://temok.com
3. Domain Name
It is the unique address of your company or business name and classified into two types:
a. Business Type
It specifies the type of your business i.e.
- .net is used for the organization used for networking technologies.
- .com for commercial uses
- .gov is used for governmental websites.
- .tv for televisions
- .edu for educational website
b. Country
It depends on the location and used to target the country-specific audience:
- .ae for United Arab Emirates
- .am for Armenia
- .ai for Anguilla
How to Decide Which Domain Name Extension is Right?
TLD (Top Level Domain) like .com .net etc appears at the end of the domain name as you can see in the example. These TLDs are available to register by anyone and anywhere all over the world. There are many domains extensions available for community-specific like .game is used for gaming, .archi for industry trades and many more.
Moreover, Country-specific TLDs (ccTLDs) are also used to target the country-specific audience like .ae for the United Arab Emirates, .am for Armenia and many more. These extensions help out to represent your business in the market to get specific visitors. So, always use an extension that is more suitable for your business type.
Useful tips for Buying Perfect Domains
1. Try to choose a shorter and unique domain having a brand name
2. Select .com extension that is a standard for commercial
3. Select country-specific domain for local businesses
4. Read domain name, again and again, to ensure it is easy to spell
5. Don’t use number or symbols
6. Easy to remember domains have greater direct traffic
7. Choose a domain that is relevant and communicates the business.
Where to Buy Domain Names?
Where to buy a domain name is the question in the minds of people who are going to shift their product, services, and information on the internet but looking for the best place to purchase a domain name. It is a challenging decision for any organization to find a unique and easy to remember domain name that can be found by their targeted audience and optimize the page search.
Finding the perfect domain name is also a challenging decision because many people have started reserving domain names that are easy to remember. So, register your domain before anyone else reserved. In case your domain is reserved you can contact the person to get your business identity or select any other domain related to the business.
The registration will provide you the domain name for 1 to 10 years, you must renew your domains before its expiry date.
How does a domain name work?
Whenever a user opens the browser of his computing device, he will enter the name of business by directly putting the URL in the URL bar or accessing from the Google search results. The computing device sends the request to a DNS (Domain Name System) which is used to translate the domain into IP addresses.
If your domain name will not be found on any DNS server, the request will be transferred to another DNS server for finding the exact location of your business website on the internet. When the server found the IP address of your particular domain name then you will be able to access the required domain. The complete process is explained in the picture given below:
What is a Domain Registrar?
Registrar is the agency or service provider that is dedicated to helping people to select and register perfect domain names for your businesses. Domain registrar is also facilitating in order to buy domain names and renewals. In other words, the registrar will enable you to check the availability of your domain and offers multiple TLD (Top-Level Domain) options.
Always keep in mind, the domain registration and hosting are different things. Hosting services also vary according to the type of resources either shared or dedicated. If you are a business startup, you can get a shared hosting that is less expensive.
What are the Key Differences Between Domain Registrars?
If your desired domain is available then you can buy it from anywhere but keep in mind not all registrars provide the same management features. Every service provider has its own advantages and disadvantages. Following are the key differences of registrars:
a. Hosting services
Some service providers only give the domain registration options but many provide both options. Because whenever you purchase a domain name you need any hosting services to make your website live on the internet.
Always try to choose a service provider who offers both services, it will be helpful for you to manage and run your business without facing the difficulties.
b. Better Domain Management
All users have not technical knowledge, their ideal registrar is one who provides an easy and intuitive panel to manage their domains. The panel has maximum options to perform management tasks as per requirements. Every non-tech person can also transfer domains or modify their records using the control panel.
Choose a registrar who provides you the advanced features for the management of your domain in an efficient manner. Moreover, you can hide the information from people and able to use different wonderful features even you are not having years of experience.
c. Support for TLDs
A number of registrars are providing only the most popular TLD extensions like .com and .net. Every business has a different niche of its products or services and needs more specific TLD that better represent the business.
Make your final deal with a service provider that provides you the domain renewals at minimum prices and provide you more TLD options in order to better fulfill your business needs.
d. Reputation
Reputation indicates the trust of user and quality of services. So, it is a best way to buy domain name after checking the reputation of the service provider. Become proactive and do good research before choosing any registrar.
e. ICANN Accreditation
ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) is the main organization making the internet more secure. Try to buy a domain name from an ICANN accredited service provider only.
f. Domain pricing
The domain name is the same but the price is different as you check different providers. It will help you to save money for your ideal domain name.
Many service providers have hidden charges and extra fees, so read all the terms and conditions before making any deal. It is necessary for the peace of mind.
g. Customer Support
Being an owner of a business, you have a better understanding of the importance of the support for any online business. Before making the decision, try to check the customer support team and the different available methods for client queries.
h. Security
Many businesses have confidential data, so it is very important to choose a registrar who provides different tools for securing the websites. Always select one who provides you the range of SSL certificates that will help you to secure the data of your website.