What is a Web Domain?

A web domain is simply the sequence of letters or words in front of an extension and is usually categorized by those extensions. In the example “website.com,” the word website is the domain and .com is the extension.

The three most popular extensions for web domain names are .com, short for commercial and used by both large businesses or individual ventures, .net, short for network, also able to be used by anyone, but was once originally designated for technical websites only. The third most popular extension is .org, which is short for organization and was once only for non-profit organizations or those that didn’t fit into the other categories, but now, anyone can register a website domain name using the extension .org.

Some of the other extensions commonly used in addition to those that are specific to a certain country include:

• .aero
• .biz
• .bz
• .cc
• .coop
• .edu
• .gov
• .info
• .int
• .jobs
• .mil
• .mobi
• .museum
• .name
• .pro
• .tv
• .ws

The Basic Cost of a Web Domain Name

The basic costs of owning a web domain name will vary depending on a number of different factors, including the extension category, as well as what specific features you select, such as email accounts, monthly bandwidth space, whether or not you want to receive visitor statistics and reports about your website.

Generally, .com, .net., and .org domain names are usually within the USD $8.99 to USD $9.99 range per year, while newer extensions like .info are about USD $1.99 for the very first year and then increase to USD $9.99 each year after that. The benefits of owning your own domain name as opposed to the free variety include the sheer level of professionalism that’s associated with your own name instead of relying on another site as well as the customer support and service that will be included with your fees.

ICANN Accreditation

ICANN or Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, is the non-profit corporation that oversees the assignment of domain names and IP addresses. All domain names are “attached” to the internet’s DNS (Domain Naming System), which serves as a virtual phone book of sorts and converts the letters and characters used in domain names into their unique, numerical IP (Internet Protocol) address, which allows computers to electronically communicate with one another and share data without the need for using the series of numbers.

Domain name registrars that have been accredited by the ICANN have to go through a stringent accreditation process, which isn’t for small businesses without a lot of money. If a web domain registrar is not ICANN accredited, chances are they are resellers (distributors) of an ICANN accredited web domain registrar. An example is NameCheap.com – They were resellers for eNom.com before they became ICANN accredited.

ICANN accredited web domain registrars tend to be more reliable but RegisterFly is an exception. In 2007, ICANN ordered about 850,000 RegisterFly web domains to be transferred to GoDaddy. I used to buy domain names from RegisterFly and this transition period was a tough time for me because I had to prove to GoDaddy that I owned the domains. Some of the RegisterFly domains belonged to eNom as RegisterFly were their resellers for some time too. It takes more than just being an ICANN accredited registrar to be considered a good web domain registrar.

Web Doman Registration Sites I Recommend

Some of the web domain registration sites you may want to use based on their reputation, service, and cost include NameCheap.com, who offers web domains starting at $8.88 USD per year. NameCheap.com is also now offering their WhoIs Privacy Protection for free for the first year to new domain names registered or for transferred names as well as a host of other beneficial features. Their interface is very easy to use and they don’t overcharge on their domains.

GoDaddy.com is another reputable web domain registration site that offers web domains $9.99 per year, although including extra services and add-on features can end up being rather expensive. Not to mention they charge an ICANN fee of USD $0.20 per year when others usually waive this charge. I personally believe their premium prices are for covering their excessive marketing campaigns of hiring pretty models to advertise their services.

Web Domain Registration Sites to Avoid

Due to consistent reports of poor customer support and an all around reputation for simply bad and unreliable service, avoid RegFly.com, also known as RegisterFly.com. Also, avoid purchasing web domains directly from web hosting services who will more than likely ask that you sign up for their hosting service, or require that you pay many months in advance, which then “locks” you in to a service you may or may not be happy with over time.

Benefits of Getting Your Own Web Domain

Today, in order to stay at the forefront of the innumerable competition who are also doing business online, all small business owners or sole proprietors must own a web address and have their own web site – One that is routinely updated as well as user-friendly and also informative. Not only does this help you to appear to others as a credible and professional source, but it also gives your customers or business associates an easy way to stay in contact with you and your company or service.

Buying a domain name proves that you are serious about your online business and web presence. It is simply unprofessional to use a free subdomain like “myname.blogspot.com” or “myname.wordpress.com”. Using a free sub domain or domain service has its restrictions and you do not own this domain name. If you own your own web domain, no one can delete your web domain unless you do not pay the yearly fee on time. Free domains usually have rules on how much traffic you need to have in order to use their domain name, some of them display intrusive ads on your web site and most of them are not using .com and .net.