What is a Domain Name?

Domains

Your website’s domain name is the name that users type into their web browser. The domain name can be compared to a home address. If you were to buy a plot of land, that land would exist at a certain address. That plot of land would be on a certain road in a certain town of a certain state of a certain country. It would have an address. Your domain name is like that address, but it is the address of your website on the internet.

What is a URL?

The precise location of your website is at the URL which contains your domain name. The term URL is an acronym which means Uniform Resource Locator. It is the precise address of your domain with either “http” or “https” added to the front of your domain name. The image below shows you where the URL is located in your web browser.

It is important for me to mention up front that a domain name is not enough. A domain name can be used for two purposes: (1) to build a website on it, and (2) to be used as a forwarding address.

A Domain for Your Website

If you want to build a website on your domain name, you will have to purchase a web hosting package as well. It is important to note: if it is your goal to build a website on your domain, it is usually better to purchase the web hosting package first because many web hosting packages give you a domain name free of charge. Don’t buy the domain name first! Buy the web hosting package first and get the free domain name.

A Domain That Redirects to Your Website

If you want to use the domain name as a forwarding address, then buy the domain name and redirect the users who type that URL into their browser to a different website. In order to do this, you do not need a web hosting package.

Next, we will discuss web hosting packages.