What Is а Domain Name?
- Short Definition
- A domain name is a string of text connected to a numeric IP address that online users type into a browser to visit a website.
- Extended Definition
-
An example of a domain name is howtohosting.guide. In other words, it is a website’s address and, as such, it is unique. In fact, the website’s real address is its IP address, but thanks to the so-called DNS, you can use a human-friend domain name to visit a website. Domain names were invented because IP addresses are too complicated to memorize.
How does this process happen? Computers use IP addresses to connect to a server where website data is located. When you type in a domain into your browser’s search bar, a request is sent to the DNS which then responds with the IP address of the website’s hosting server.
The structure of a domain name (howtohosting.guide) is the following:
- Www, or World Wide Web, refers to the third-level domain;
- HTH is the second-level domain, or the name of the site;
- .guide is the top-level domain or the domain name extension.
It is also noteworthy that domain names are managed by domain registries, which assign the reservation of domain names to registrars. If you want to create a website, you should register a domain name with a registrar. Currently, there are more than 300 million registered domain names.
For more definitions, check out our dedicated Definitions list.