On World Wide Web your domain name is your own unique identity. No two parties can ever hold same domain name simultaneously; therefore your Internet identity is totally unique. If you have a business site on Internet your domain name is your own online brand and in a sense you can use your domain name as your online business card. With your own domain name your web site, and e-mail addresses for example will have that professional look, being unique to your business. Many people often miss importance of having and then keeping their domain name until they lose it. Once this happens they soon realize that they have lost their whole online identity.

How does a domain name work? To understand why you need a domain name you first need to know how a domain name works.

A domain name is an addressing construct, used for finding and identifying computers on Internet. Computers use Internet Protocol (IP) Addresses, which are a series of numbers used to identify each other on Internet; however, many people find it hard to remember IP Addresses. Because of this, domain names were developed so that easily remembered names and phrases could be used to identify entities in Internet instead of using an IP Address.

For example, domain name M6.net identifies company M6.net. When a user types domain name M6.net in their browser or sends an email to M6.net, Domain Name System (DNS) will translate domain name into IP numbers. These are then used by Internet to connect user to M6.net’s web presence.

What should I use as a domain name? You can use a word or phrase as a domain name. When thinking of a domain name, think of catchy words or phrases that are easy to remember and that will bring more traffic to your site. Try to use a domain name that is relevant to your web site. If your web site is a business site, it is a good idea to use companies name as domain name or if your site is a personal site try to think of a domain name that is related to topic of your web site.

Also try to keep your domain name as short as possible, around 5 to 20 characters is fine. The shorter domain name easier it will be to remember.

One thing to keep in mind is assumed spelling issues; if you think up a ‘clever’ domain name such as 1luv4u.com – One Love For You (dating service), people may type in oneloveforyou.com believing this is domain name; or oneluv4u.com, or 1love4you.com etc. This leads to brand problems. In this case “oneloveforyou.com” name would be best. Another unfortunate example: Flo Office Supplies – flooffice.com?

Once you have figured out a name for your ‘domain’ it can be really confusing trying to decide on what should go after “dot” (i.e. com, net, org, etc…) in your domain name. This part of domain name is referred to as a top-level domain (TLD) and knowing difference between each top-level domain is important when choosing your domain name.

Below are descriptions of best known top-level domains:

.com – This is most popular TLD. It is used mainly for US commercial organizations. BUT, in its capacity, it represents highest standing for any domain name. Anyone can have a ‘.com’, but it is more difficult to think up a unique name that hasn’t already been registered.