| If you've spent any time at all surfing the internet, | | | | forcethem to pay you money (it's could be described |
| then you've seen adomain name. You may not have | | | | as domain name extortion). |
| known, but you can be sure that you've seenone. | | | | Can domain names be sold or traded? |
| So what are domain names all about? Here are some | | | | Yes, as long as the rules for cybersquatting are not |
| common questions and theanswers. | | | | violated. There areseveral companies who specialize in |
| What is this thing called a domain name? | | | | the buying, selling and bidding ondomain names. |
| It is a completely unique address which identifies a | | | | Can you have more than one domain name go to |
| collection of web pages | | | | the same site? |
| (generally called a web site) that are publicly | | | | Yes, if your ISP supports it. Actually, some domain |
| accessible. A domain nameidentifies your site and | | | | registrars will supportthis even if the ISP does not. |
| allows people to get to it without knowing | | | | This, by the way, is a good idea under some |
| thetechnical details of it's TCP/IP address and so | | | | conditions. Suppose you have asite which is |
| forth. A good domain namealso informs people what | | | | commonly misspelled. You might purchase your |
| your site is about. | | | | domain and themisspelled domain name, and point |
| Is a domain name only for web sites? | | | | them to the same site. |
| No. A domain name also is used for email | | | | It's often a good idea to purchase the ".NET", ".ORG" |
| identification. In addition, otherkinds of systems such | | | | and ".COM" versions ofyour domain name if they are |
| as newsgroups and FTP servers are often identified | | | | available. This prevents the problem thatoccurred |
| bya domain name. | | | | with the whitehouse - whitehouse.gov is indeed the |
| Why is a domain name important? | | | | whitehouse, is a pornographic site. |
| If you create a web site, you don't absolutely need a | | | | Many ISPs or web hosts will charge extra for this |
| domain name. In fact,the vast majority of people | | | | feature if you do it usingtheir services. |
| create a web site on a free host. These freehosts | | | | What are the qualities of a good domain name? |
| typically have many thousands (and in a few cases | | | | A good domain name should tell your visitors what |
| millions) of websites on the same domain, each site | | | | your site is about. Itshould be easy to remember and |
| identified by a unique name. | | | | it should be as short as possible. |
| However, if you have the desire to do anything | | | | Can you purchase a domain name just to prevent |
| significant on the internet,then you need to get your | | | | someone else from getting it? |
| own domain name. Why? It's considered | | | | Yes you can, as long as it does not violate the rules |
| moreprofessional, it is not very expensive, and many | | | | of cybersquatting. Infact, many companies will |
| of the major search engineswill not spider free host | | | | purchase as many variations of their domain nameas |
| sites which do not have their own domain name. | | | | they can. For example, if you company was named |
| What are the components of a domain name? | | | | "AOL" you might want topurchase the domain |
| There are two to three parts to a domain name. | | | | "AOLSUCKS.COM" to prevent an AOL bashing site |
| Let's take a typical domainname - "internet-tips.net". | | | | from beingset up. |
| This domain name has two parts. The first, | | | | I've heard about long domain names - what about |
| "internet-tips", is a second-level domain name. The | | | | them? |
| second part, the ".net"is a top-level domain name. | | | | Long domain names were all the rage during recent |
| You can also have a third (or even more) part,called | | | | years. The concept was toget as many long domain |
| a subdomain. For example, "search.internet-tips.net" | | | | names as you could with keywords related to |
| might be a validsubdomain. The whole thing together | | | | yoursite. For example, for "internet-tips.net" you |
| identifies a web site or sites. | | | | might also get |
| What is a subdomain for? | | | | "internet-tips-web-site-help.net" and |
| A subdomain is used to drill down deeper into a site. | | | | "webmaster-helpful-hints.com" as wellas |
| For example, a webhost that allows other people to | | | | "protecting-websites-danger.com". Although it should |
| create sites might offer subdomains. Eachsubdomain | | | | be obvious that nosurfer is going to type these long |
| might be a unique site. Subdomains can also be used | | | | domain names, the idea was search engineswould |
| to identifyfunctions - "search.internet-tips.net" is a | | | | see the various keywords. This was touted as |
| good example of a functionoriented subdomain. | | | | important for boostingyour ranking in the search |
| What are the valid top-level domains? | | | | engine listings (ranking is how high up on thelist you |
| The current major top-level domains are listed in the | | | | get - a ranking of 1 means you are first). |
| table below. | | | | As far as I can tell, this is all so much hogwash. Save |
| Domain Usage | | | | your money forsomething useful. |
| .COM Commercial business | | | | What about the domain names that require my |
| .EDU 4-year university or college | | | | browser be modified to see? |
| .GOV Government | | | | One company decided to offer it's own set of top |
| .INT International | | | | level domains. It did thisby maintaining it's own tables |
| .MIL Military | | | | and offering a browser plug-in to interestedsurfers. |
| .NATO NATO field | | | | Personally, I believe this is one of the silliest things |
| .NET Network related organizations | | | | I've ever heard. Iwouldn't touch it with a ten foot |
| .ORG Non-profit organization | | | | pole. These people are side-stepping theestablished |
| There are also top-level domain names for countries - | | | | domain naming system, and it's highly unlikely that |
| these are defined by | | | | they will berecognized throughout the internet. If |
| ISO-3166. In addition, new top-level domains are in | | | | their domain name tables ever becomerecognized by |
| the process of beingcreated - these are described in | | | | the main top level servers, then I would consider |
| "The new domains are coming soon". | | | | theirservices. Otherwise, I think I will save my money. |
| The intended purpose of the top-level domain is to | | | | How do I see if a domain is already registered? |
| allow surfers to know,just by looking at the | | | | You can check the WHOIS database. Internet Tips |
| characters, what kind of site they are examining. | | | | And Secrets hosts a WHOISlookup form. |
| Forexample, a site with a top level domain of ".EDU" | | | | What happens if the registration renewal is not paid |
| is a university or fouryear college. | | | | on time? |
| Unfortunately, restrictions of the use of top-level | | | | You lose the rights to the domain and it can be sold |
| domains (especially | | | | to someone else. |
| .ORG) has not been enforced. Thus, the divisions | | | | Additional Information |
| between the domain nameshas blurred. | | | | Cybersquatting |
| How do people get domain names? | | | | It's illegal to purchase a domain name similar to |
| There are over 200 companies (called Domain | | | | trademarked name. |
| Registrars) whose only purposeis to sell you domain | | | | Who Needs a Domain Name? |
| names. All you have to do is find one and give | | | | You've worked hard on your site and you want to |
| themmoney. They will take care of the rest. | | | | be professional. You need adomain name. |
| How much does it cost to get a domain? | | | | Domain Parking |
| It depends upon where you get your domain name. | | | | Got a domain name but you're not ready to put |
| You can find many placesthat will register for free in | | | | together a site? If so, youwant to park your domain. |
| return for some service or product. Some willcharge | | | | Registering a domain name |
| a yearly fee, some will only charge for the | | | | If you want your web site to be respected or to |
| registration itself. Ingeneral, I would not pay more | | | | make any significant money,you had better register a |
| than $35 a year. If you look around, you canget this | | | | domain name. |
| down to under $10. | | | | Transferring a domain ransferring.htm |
| What about Network Solutions? | | | | Unhappy with your domain registrar? Price too high? |
| Until recently, you could only purchase domain names | | | | Then go ahead andtransfer your domain to another |
| from a company called | | | | one. |
| Network Solutions. You can still purchase your domain | | | | The new domains are coming soon |
| name directly fromthem. However, you now have | | | | A number of new domains have been approved. This |
| the option of using any of several hundreddifferent | | | | is good news for webmastersas it adds more choices |
| companies. It is up to you. | | | | to naming your sites |
| How many domain names can a person own? | | | | Networks - WHOIS |
| As many as he wants. You do have to be careful | | | | Need to find out who owns a domain name? Want |
| about cybersquatting, whichis the practice of | | | | to see if a domain has beenpurchased by someone? |
| purchasing a domain only to block someone else or | | | | The WHOIS tool is what you need to use. |