Domain Names Definition

One of the most important components of a website is its domain name. To put it simply, a domain name is a website’s address. It is what is typed into the navigation bar of a web browser to load a particular website. For example, google.com can be typed into a navigation bar to take someone to Google.

Domain names are used because they are useful to both website owners and web surfers. Without domain names, a series of numbers would have to be used to connect to different websites. Such strings of numbers can be very hard for the average person to remember.

Without domain names, this number would also change each time a website was moved to a different web server. Domain names, however, do not have these problems. They can simply be moved from host to host without visitors noticing the difference.

Top Level Domain Names and Domain Extensions

There are also many different kinds of domains extension, such as top level domain names. These were created to insure that enough domain names would be available to customers and to provide specialized web addresses for certain kinds of websites.

First, there are .COM top level domain names. Google.com is one such example. Domain names with a .COM address are in fact the most common kind of domain name that exists. COM stands for commercial. As such, this domain name is commercially available to anyone that wishes to pay for a .COM address.

Two other very common extensions are .NET and .ORG domain names. NET stands for network, and ORG stands for organization. Despite the definitions of these names, a person does not have to run a network or an organization to use such a domain name. They are available to all consumers for any use they wish. They are also usually available for cheaper than .COM addresses.

There are also top level domain names that are specific to certain countries. For example, .CA is the domain name extension of Canada. However, not every country specific domain name is intuitive. Switzerland’s domain name extension is .CH. Certain countries have also decided to make their country specific domain names available for commercial use. This includes Canada. It also includes other countries such as Denmark, India, and Spain.

New top level domains are also constantly being introduced onto the market. One such domain name is .CO. This domain name was assigned to the Republic of Colombia in 2009. However, this domain name was made commercially available in 2010 after the country sold it at auction for $81,000. Today, anyone in the world can register a .CO domain name.

How to buy a domain name in Canada

There are generally two ways to obtain a domain name for a website. The first is to purchase the exclusive use of a domain name through a domain name registrar. There are many domain registrars available that provide this service for a small yearly fee.

We recommend GoDaddy.com. Read our GoDaddy Review to get the latest coupon code.

Secondly, a person has the option of purchasing a domain name bundled with hosting services. The domain name will be selected when the hosting is purchased, and the host will handle registering it for the customer. In fact, the domain name is usually provided for free as long as a person also purchases one of the company’s hosting packages.

To receive a free domain name with a hosting plan, we strongly recommend WHC.ca or GreenGeeks.ca.