A domain is the address of a website. At the top of this page, in the address bar of your browser, you'll see make-website.com

That is the address of this website. No other website on the internet can have exactly the same address. A domain name can be your own name, the name of your business, or some other name.
A .com address is the most popular, followed by .net and .org


Type "domain names" into a search engine such as google, and choose some sites to look at from the search results. Take your time, look around carefully, and compare before you buy.


Unfortunately, no. Every word in the English dictionary has already been registered on the .com extension, and almost anything else that you can come up with! You must come up with a unique name, even if it is different from another name by just one letter.


The .com extension was the first, and is the most recognisable on the internet. There is fierce trading in 'good' .com domain names. The best names will sell for many thousands of dollars, as they are not available any more and are highly sought after.


A business site that carries out its business in a particular country will want an extension that signifies that country.
Find a comprehensive list of the lop-level domain name extensions for countries around the world here: http://www.iana.org/root-whois/index.html


The cost of registering a domain name can vary, although the most popular extensions such as .com, .net and .org cost a few dollars per year. It is cheaper to register for two or more years.
If you are buying an established domain name, the cost can range from a few dollars to a few thousand.



Some people do not realise that all of the personal information that they registered the domain with, such as their full name, street address, phone number and email address, can be looked up.
Anyone can type in the domain address of a website to see this information. You can find this information at a whois website such as: http://whois.domaintools.com/
For some domain extensions, you can pay extra to have all of this information kept private. For example, a .com and .net extension can be registered under private registration.
If you are registering a domain name of a particular country - you may not be able to have your details kept private, as some countries require that your details are displayed in whois.
If you are registering a few domain names at the one time, with the same details, they are a mix of private registrations and non-private registrations - be aware that whois may list them all together as belonging to you (this can happen if all the names are pointed at the same IP number, and the root domain name is public.)


Take your time when deciding on a domain name. Be certain about the name that you want, be sure to spell it correctly, know if you want the domain for one, two or more years, and know if you want a privacy option.
A site may try to upsell you extra years, extra features and extra websites as you go through the registration process. Read everything carefully.





.com
commercial. The most widely used in the world. Can be used by anyone.
.net
network Can be used by anyone.
.org
organization Used by non-profit groups
.biz
business Used by small-business sites.
.info
Information  Resource and information.
.us
US New extension for the USA
.mobi
mobile  This is used for access to mobile phones
.name
personal Is the only domain extension created especially for personal use.

Domain names

How do I get a domain name?

Can I have any domain name I want?

Why is .com so popular?

Country domain extensions

Cost of registering a domain name

Privacy of personal information when you register a domain name

Signing up - READ EVERYTHING CAREFULLY

A brief rundown of the most popular top-level domain extensions