Establishing your online presence has become a key factor in making your business or name legal online. While there are many options you can consider as social media or third-party publishing platforms, setting up a fully functional website offers a unique opportunity to make your mark online. The first step in creating a website starts with your domain name which is how visitors are introduced to your business or brand online. Domain names are always an online business card that can strengthen your online presence while allowing people to understand who you are and what you offer.
What is a Domain Name?
All online websites are made up of a unique combination of numbers and characters called Internet Protocol (IP address) that determine how to access them on any device or location. Since an IP address can be difficult for just one person to remember, a domain name replaces numbers and letters in a name-based format that is easy for users to remember. A domain name is the web address that a user typed in a web browser to access your website. Instead of a random mix of 77.521.11.1 representing your IP address, the user will type in www.yourwebsite.com and the “yourwebsite” section of that address will be your domain name.
Getting Creative With LTD's
As the internet continues to grow and make room for more websites, there have been many options for making art by expanding your domain name. A domain name extension can appear as a “dot” that follows your domain name such as bluehost.com. Top-level domains (TLDs) such as .com, .org, .edu, or .net are other features of your website name that can strengthen your online presence. The availability of TLDs has been expanded so users have more opportunities to name their domains by adding extensions such as .us, .biz, .blog, .tech, and more!
Using a high-quality domain can give the user more flexibility in defining what their website is about and can include a variety of pricing options depending on their web host. If you want to identify a specific country or region, the domains are top-notch and offer the option to include a place like .co.uk or .us
How to Choose a Domain
Now that you have a domain name, the next step is to find out if it is registered or wanted by someone else online. Checking the availability of your domain name is an important step in building your website because it can help determine if you need to explore other domain name options. If a domain name is already being used by someone else online, you will not be able to use it even if the website is currently inactive
While you can do a quick web search for your domain, you can use a domain name generator that can determine if your domain name is currently in use before registering. A nice feature of domain name generators is that they can provide other creative options if your domain name is not available
SubDomain
Another option you can consider when choosing a domain is to create a subdomain. The subdomain is an additional component or prefix that can be added to your domain name. Subdomains are used to organize and navigate through various sections of a website that can make it easily accessible to users. You can create many subdomains such as: blog.yourwebsite.com, mail.yourwebsite.com, store.yourwebsite.com. “Your Website,” maybe your primary domain name and subdomain “store, blog, post, etc.”
Why You Shouldn’t Let Your Domain Name Expire
After selecting and registering your domain name with a webmaster, it is very important to keep track of your annual renewal date so that your domain does not expire. When you register your domain name with your webmaster, you will be asked to choose a domain name for one, three, or five years and then pay the required fee for the term you choose. You can never "buy" a domain name in the traditional sense, paying for the use of your domain based on the term of your contract. If your domain is not updated in a timely manner it may become obsolete and available for other people to use.