A domain name, commonly referred to as “web address”, is a set of characters that people type into a browser address bar in order to locate your website on the world wide web. e.g. www.google.com.
It functions on the Internet in a similar way to a piece of land in the physical world. Buying a domain name is like “buying” a piece of land, but in the case of domains, there is an annual renewal fee for as long as you wish to possess that domain. You can’t permanently purchase a domain, but you can pre-pay for it for up to a maximum of 10 years.
Things to know;
- No two websites can have the same domain name it is always a first-come, first-serve thing.
- You can have a domain name without having a website —The same way you can rent/lease land without making use of it.
- To have a website, you will need both a domain and a hosting plan.
- To keep possession of a domain name, an annual fee is required.
- You can’t buy a website hosting plan if you don’t have a domain name.
- The part of the domain after the dot is called TLD (or Top Level Domain).
