What is a domain? A comprehensive explanation for beginners

When you think of creating your own website, the first thing you need is to get a domain name.

What is a domain? 

Simply, the domain can be defined as the address that is typed into the browser bar to access a specific website you want to visit, for example, Google’s domain is Google and it is written in this way https://www.google.com To make it easier for you, it can be likened the domain with a fingerprint is unique, and each person has a unique fingerprint that differs from others. 

Domain names that are offered for sale on the Internet by service providers (such as UltaHost), but in fact, they are not owned by those sites, but they are allowed to resell and profit through them, and some rent a large group of these domains and then put them at other prices. The price of the domain varies from one site The prices will often be close because the base price for any Domain Name is set by ICANN which is a non-registrant of domain names on the Internet. 

How is a domain name unique to me? 

This question may come to your mind, how to maintain the exclusivity of the domain name for you, for example, when you type in your browser: google.com, do you think that there is a possibility to access the Facebook site through this name? or Yahoo? or amazon? 

Of course not, it is the fourth impossible for that to happen, because the domain has been linked to the server of the Google site and therefore the name will take you directly to the site Google – the famous search engine. 

Let’s find out more about how it’s done 

Just like computers, every device is identified by an IP address which is a sequential set of numbers separated by dots. Domains also work the same way, any website on the Internet has a fixed number and the number cannot be the same with any other site. 

The domain name consists of a group of alphabetic letters, which are those letters that express the name of a company or a brand name, which is what is called the domain name “Domain”. 

When buying a domain, the registrar, which is the company that owns the domains, registers the domain name and DNS of the buyer’s domain for a certain period of time. 

To be clearer, the DNS is the number through which you can connect the domain to the server that you obtained through the hosting company. 

After each new domain sale, the company updates the central database so that the domain name and its own number are reserved for one person only, and no one else will be able to obtain it. 

When a domain name is owned, all the information about this domain becomes available in a database known as WHOIS, through which any information about the domain name and its owners, such as the name of the domain owner and any information related to it, is identified. 

The purpose of registering online domain data is for it to be used by law enforcement authorities in connection with any issues that may arise in the future. 

All DNS numbers are registered by ICANN, which is, as we mentioned earlier, a non-profit organization that aims to manage domain names and IP addresses on the Internet, and also helps ICANN, which is an abbreviation for the word Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, in organizing and managing domain names on the Internet. 

You may be wondering: Can anyone buy a domain name for their site? The answer will be yes, of course, anyone can buy a domain name for their site as long as the domain name is not owned by someone else and is not linked to any website on the Internet, and you can find out by entering the trusted domain selling sites and typing the domain name to check its availability. 

How do I choose the best domain name? 

Choosing a unique domain name is one of the most important things you will do for your website, because the domain name will be an important connection point between your website and visitors and express your brand. Careful so that you do not face the problem of changing the name later in the event of dissatisfaction, in which case your site may be negatively affected as a result of this change. 

Let me tell you some general tips for choosing the right domain name: 

How is the domain linked to my site? 

After we explained in this article a lot of basic points about the domain, it is time to explain how the domain works from a technical perspective, and to understand this, you must be aware that every website has a dedicated and static IP, which is called a protocol and it is a sequential set of numbers that are in this form 146.60.120.201, but in any case, you are not obligated to understand these matters, but of course, this is in case you want to know more about how the domain works. 

It is very difficult for us to remember those numbers that we mentioned above to get to the sites we want to go to, but it will be easier to remember them if it is Google.com or Youtube.com instead of those complex numbers here importance of the domain appears. 

If things are still not clear to you, I will give you a small example: 

When you want to go to the address of a friend or family member, it is very easy to remember the street name rather than its coordinates, so having a domain name for any website will be much better than remembering random numbers that are difficult to memorize. 

Thus, when you type a domain name for any website in the browser bar, it starts searching for an IP address that matches the name you typed, and here is the DNS function, which is an abbreviation for the word Domain Name System, which stores any information about the site in its own database so that the browser starts fetching that information so that the user can view the site in a few seconds. 

Domain Extensions 

The domain extension is the last part of the site name. For example, if we look at the Google address, we will find that the domain is in this way www.google.com, and if we look at another domain, you will see it in this way www.name.net, so, beyond the last point is what is known as the extension, there are many from extensions such as .com as well as .NET and .org. 

When you think of domain extensions, the first thing that will come to your mind is .com because it is the most used extension among the different types of extensions. 

There are many extensions that are released continuously, for example, in 1985 there were a limited number of extensions, and they did not exceed nine, but over time, more were added until there were more than 1000 extensions, among those extensions, for example: 

• .NET 
• .org 
• .tect 
• .store 
• .online 
• .press 
• .space 
• .site 
• .io 

And many other extensions. In general, when you buy a new domain, you are the one who determines what is most appropriate for you and we advise you to use the most popular extensions and what expresses your site, in addition to that some extensions are exclusively for some organizations such as government or educational extensions, and this is what we will explain in greater detail. 

Now let’s get to know those extensions so that you can know what is best for your website: 

The first extension is .com 

It is a popular and top-level domain, 40% of registered domains are .com because it is easier for people to type this extension than any other domain, it is familiar, and adding it in your site address makes it look professional. 

But there is only one problem if you think about choosing this extension, most of the names are already registered and it will be difficult to choose a good name for your site because you will notice that too many names become unavailable and registered by other people. 

The second extension is .NET 

It is considered the second and best alternative to .com, but the .NET extension is used by sites and companies that provide Internet and network services, this does not mean that it is limited to this use only, on the contrary, it has become at the present time one of the most used extensions after .com and this extension is chosen from Before some in two cases: 

The first case: If you find that the domain name that you want to register is not available on the .com extension here in large part, you will find it available on the .NET extension – this is surely lucky – but it is better to search for a unique name or even change the entire name and search Find a new domain name for your website. 

Because choosing names similar to other brands will cause a lot of confusion for visitors and even difficult competing with major brands that have had a presence for many years on the scene, “Always make others imitate you and do not be the one who imitates others.” 

The second case: In the event that you do not want some people to use a similar name to your site, here you can reserve the same name on the .NET extension and then make a redirect through it to your main site on the .com domain, for example. 

Third extension .Edu 

It is one of the extensions dedicated to educational institutions, universities and schools, not only that, but this extension has become linked to many educational centers, and the domain can be registered with this extension if the criteria are met for those who wish to obtain it. 

This extension is very restrictive and has somewhat strict policies in order to strengthen the educational system and protect students. 

The fourth extension .org 

It is an abbreviation of the word Organization and is used by organizations or non-profit organizations, as well as some famous companies, schools and associations also use it. 

The fifth extension .gov 

Government agencies, ministries, and some other government organizations can use the .gov extension, which is a domain managed by the General Services Administration, or GSA, an independent agency based in the United States. 

Some government extensions 

There are many other major domains, all recognized countries have a custom extension code that can be used for a specific country, territory or geographic area. 

This type of domain is the best choice for websites that want to target an audience from a specific geographic location or country, and will serve as a strong indication for search engines that your site is being shown to people from the same target region or country. 

But in order to be able to obtain a domain with this extension, some countries need to make sure that the person who wants to obtain it resides in the same country, or that his business or company has a local presence and a commercial registry in the same country, and in most cases the registration is done from Through some government agencies and submit the necessary papers to them. 

Not only that, but some countries set a prerequisite for the applicant to obtain this type of domain to be over 18 years old, and restrictions vary from country to country; For this, you must check the rules and conditions for each country. There are some countries whose rules state that a person must use the domain after owning it, and if it is not used within 180 days, it is considered expired. 

What are the services associated with the domain?

Most domain selling sites offer great add-ons, some of which are free domains, and some of them come with an additional fee over the price of the basic domain, and among those services: 

Sub domain 

The domain, as mentioned above, is available with many extensions such as .com or .org, which we call the main domain or the basic domain “the domain”, which can be branched from and under which several other sub-domains fall that help organize the site, so that it becomes easy to organize the site and move between partitions easily. 

The sub-domain is a distinct part of your website and the nature of its work is under the basic domain, so that site owners can create sub-pages and sections without having to purchase a new primary domain, because it is easy to link those pages to the sub-domain and start displaying them on your website and the sub-address is like this www.subdomain.yoursite.com Or as shown in the previous image, this is one of the Google Help and Support pages linked to a sub-domain called Support. 

SSL certificates 

SSL certificates are installed on most websites in order to keep users’ sensitive information and data safe when browsing your website. 

The SSL security certificate will help you encrypt all data between the server and the web browser to ensure that the personal information of site users does not reach the hands of hackers and intruders, and by installing this certificate on your site, you will get more confidence, and secured sites can be known by looking at the site address if found HTTPS means that the site is secure, but if it is HTTP only then the site does not use the security certificate. 

Whois Data Protection 

The ICANN organization confirmed through their website that anyone buying a domain must include correct information and contact information so that they can contact the domain owner if they need to, but this thing can make your data available to some, there are sites through which you can Knowing any details about the domain owner such as name, address, registered email name, and other information such as the time of purchase of the domain and its expiration date. 

To solve this problem, there are a lot of hosting and domain selling companies, including us (UltaHost) that provide Whois Privacy service. It helps maintain your privacy and information on the Internet so that your data is not displayed and available to everyone. 

Common Questions 

There may still be some questions in your mind about owning your own domain, and these are most of the questions that are expected to come to your mind with their explanatory answers: 

Do I have to pay the annual fee to own the domain? 

Once the domain is purchased, its ownership is transferred from the hosting company to the user, and the period is based on the amount paid, where the domain can be purchased from one year to 10 years, and before the expiration of the specified period for the domain, most companies send an email to remind the user to renew before the domain is restored again. 

The automatic renewal feature can be activated through your account on the domains site so that the site can renew the domain automatically, bearing in mind that in the event of the expiry of the reservation period, the user has the ability to restore it in a period between 15 to 30 days before it is offered for sale again, If you do not pay the renewal fee, someone else may buy it and you will not be able to take it back unless the new buyer has given up on him or the period has expired without renewal. 

Is it possible to get a free domain? 

There are many hosting companies, including us (UltaHost), that provide free services to users, such as: obtaining free hosting with limited capabilities and a free domain associated with the name of the site, which enables them to bring in more customers and at the same time is one of the advertising methods used by many. 

But of course, there is a huge difference between getting a free domain and a paid domain; Because the free domain lacks a lot of features, but the free domain, as we explained when you get it, will not be yours, but rather includes the name of the company in the site address like this, for example, www.example.wordpress.net. 

This is of course one of the things that will make your site unprofessional because no one prefers sites that do not have a dedicated domain name for them, which will negatively affect your business and will make you lose the credibility of the site and many customers. 

Why do domain prices differ? 

In fact, prices for some domains are fixed; The annual domain cost is about $13, and some domain selling sites offer offers and discounts if you book the domain for a longer period, and thus the cost will decrease and may become only $10 per year. 

But there are many factors that make some domains expensive, and the cost of one domain may reach more than 500 thousand dollars, but what is the reason for that? 

In fact, one of the reasons why the price of the domain is high is that the name is very distinctive and unique. The price of the domain is determined according to the length of the name, for example: the shorter the better and it can be remembered easily. Also, the domains have famous names that match the names of some companies. And the big brands often have a high price compared to others, and the prices of some domains vary based on the extension, whether it is .com, .net or .org. 

In any case, most of the premium domains are already owned by some people and are priced based on supply and demand. There are a lot of points that determine the prices of these domains. 

Entrepreneurs and big brands spend thousands of dollars – if not millions – in order to buy a unique domain name that represents their brand and brings to their site a good number of visitors because the name is easy to write and remember. 

There are more than 76 million domains sold and registered all over the world, here the chance of finding a unique name for your site is very slim. There are people whose job it is to buy and keep premium names until the right buyer comes along who can pay a good amount for that name. 

There are people who are willing to pay millions of dollars for a great domain name, because the name makes a big difference in the success of most projects on the Internet, looking at some famous domains we will find that in 2008 Pizza.com sold for 2.6 million dollars and Business.com sold for $7.5 million in 1999. 

It is very easy to remember the distinguished domain name and it is also easy to write it, but it is related to the name of the product or service you provide, bearing in mind that some people when they try to search for a site that offers a particular service, some type the name of the site predictably, for example As a car sale or car rental site, they will type the address predictably like cars.com or if they are looking for a flower shop they will type flowers.com and this is called direct traffic that will help bring in more customers without paying any money for marketing The site will save you a lot. 

These are all examples in which we tried to explain the importance of having a unique domain name and also tried to explain the reasons why these people paid all that money in order to get the perfect domain for their websites. 

How do you choose the perfect domain name? 

Choosing a domain name is one of the most important things to think about well and not rush it, and make sure that the domain name is distinctive and represents your brand or your own site because in general, it represents the identity of the site through which you will be able to leave an impact and imprint on others. A good keyword name will greatly help your site to appear in search engines better. 

1. Always try to choose a short domain name, not more than 15 characters, and the lesser that is, the better. You should also choose the domain name away from using any numbers or signs unless it is related to your brand. 
2. Choose a name that is easy to remember and write so that visitors can return to your site at any time easily and without complications. 
3. Use keywords related to your brand, for example: register the company’s name as a title, and try to be limited to an important keyword, make the name of your site express what’s inside. 
4. Use some tools and websites that allow you to search for available domains and display a lot of related names that will simply help you choose the best one for you. 

It is normal when you search for a specific domain name that you want for the first time, you will find that the domain is 90% reserved by another party, and you may find that the first 5 or 10 attempts to choose the name have failed and that most of the names are reserved. 

Do not despair and try again and again with your creativity and keep searching until you reach a suitable name that expresses the domain of your site. If you do not find it on .com, you can search on .NET and so on, but of course .com and .NET is the best and we explained in detail each of those extensions at the beginning of the article. 

What are the steps for domain registration? 

The buying steps differ from one company to another, but the general idea is constant. Once you have chosen a suitable name for your site, it is time to register and purchase it by clicking on the word buy next to the domain, or if the site is in English, click on the word Buy or Add to Cart, and the site will tell you the annual cost of the domain. 

The site will then take you to the next page, through which you can choose the number of years of domain reservation in case you wish to reserve the domain for long periods. 

Finally, the site will ask you to enter the credit card data Visa or MasterCard with some other contact information such as name, phone number, address, or e-mail, just write them and agree to the usage agreement and privacy policy, and then click on the word Complete Order to complete the payment process and start registering the range. 

The payment process you made in the previous step is the last thing, but you will need to confirm and prove your ownership of this domain, by clicking on the confirmation message that the site will send you to your email and follow some instructions in order to complete the purchase process. Link it to your website at any time. 

---

How do you buy a domain? 

Domains can be purchased from domain reservation sites, there are hundreds of sites specialized in this matter, but we always advise choosing the most famous and most trusted companies, including UltaHost for several reasons. 

Why choose UltaHost?

It is one of the largest companies selling domains and hosting on the Internet and has many customers. It can be said that it is one of the best domain registration companies in the world because of its credibility because the company has been able to gain the trust of customers and gain new customers over time to this day. 

UltaHost cares a lot about its customers, whether existing or new, by offering a lot of offers and discounts that you may not find anywhere else. Sometimes offers are made on domain prices starting with only $1 for the first year, and then you are charged at the base price of the domain, but this type of Offers You won’t always find it but the company puts it up every now and then. 

The company’s website is characterized by an easy-to-use interface. Once you enter the site, you will find a quick search tool in which you can type the domain name you want to search for, and the site will display all available domains for purchase. 

Through UltaHost, you can register the domain for a period of up to 5 years or more, and therefore you will not have to worry about renewing the domain every year, in addition to the fact that the company provides more than excellent customer service throughout the week, in case you encounter any problems or need assistance, you will find that support the technician is great and you will find a quick response to solve the problem. 

In general, when you reserve the domain from domain selling sites, you will find that you have the ability to reserve the domain for a period of at least one year, and you will have the ability to renew after the specified period expires. 

UltaHost offers many services in addition to domains such as email, VPS, WordPress, dedicated hosting, VDS, and other web hosting services. 

In addition to all this, UltaHost offers many domain services such as Domain locking, Great renewal rates, Easy management, Auto-renewal, Whois privacy protection, and SSL Protection with Low prices & wide options. 

We hope that you have benefited from this article, in which we clarify many questions about the domain by definition, the nature of its work, how it can be purchased, what extensions are available, and many of the points that we explained in detail.