Put simply – a domain is the name your website resolves to. Let’s look at a few examples:
- Google.com – Google is the domain
- Markkoszk.com – Markkoszyk is the domain
The internet consists of websites sitting on web servers. Each site is unique and has an IP address. IP stands for Internet Protocol. An IP address is a number that is unique to your web host (more below on web hosts, name servers and more).
TO put it simply – who wants to type a bunch of numbers into a browser? That’s where domains come in. It is a quick unique identifier of your website.
Of course there’s more to it. When you type your domain into a browser – the internet needs to find the exact webserver that hosts your website files to deliver them to the user. So this is how it works. There’s a thing called DNS – domain name server. It’s this large inter-connected loop of name servers that pretty much translate your domain name to the exact web server your site is sitting on. Then, through the magic of the internet – your website appears.
It’s that simple – actually it’s not, but that’s why I’m here. I make technology simple. I handle the rabbit hole stuff, letting you focus on creating content and delivering that content.
Let’s take it from the top. I’ll use an example. My name is Suzanne and I want to build a website to promote my consulting business. So I start to look for a domain name, something unique, catchy, that people will remember. I come up with something I like. The next step is – is the domain available? For example I’ll use my domain. There are only so many Mark Koszyks in this world. Hopefully I’m the first one that wants to use my name as a domain.
What I do – and what I suggest – is determine a domain I like, and a few alternatives. I then go to any domain register (seeing as nothing is free in the world, domain registrars serve the purpose of helping you find an available domain – and claiming it for your use). Going back to my example of “suzanne.com” – any registrar tells me this is not available. So, remembering my suggestion of having a few alternatives – I go to plan B. That might be “Suzanne-Consults.com”, or something else. When I find one I like – I buy it and I’m on my way.
The last thing is what is called the top level domain. More below on that below.
Website addresses end with .com, or .org, sometimes .biz. What’s up with that?
These are what are called top level domains. For some more detail you can click here
But the bottom line on this – while Suzanne.com might not be available perhaps “Suzanne.org”, or “Suzanne.info” might be.
So if you’re looking for the RIGHT domain – don’t get stuck on the .com, think out of the box and if a .org works it’s worth looking at.
HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. HTML is the standard markup language for describing the structure of web pages.
Bootstrap is a sleek, intuitive, and powerful front-end framework for faster and easier web development. It is a collection of CSS and HTML conventions.
WordPress is a open source content management system. 38% of the world’s websites are built on WordPress. Like this one. So perhaps it has it’s limitations, and for a web developer it kind of sucks. But it works, and for you I can build you an awesome web presence for about $1000, give or take.