First Published: 9th of August, 2018 by Patrick Carpen.
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There are literally millions of domain names registered on the internet today, and millions more are waiting to be registered. Yet, many people are still in the dark as to what exactly is a domain name.
Have you ever heard expressions like “top level domain name” or “subdomain?” Tech-savvy individuals would automatically understand what those expressions mean, but there are still millions of people out there wondering “what exactly is a top level domain name?”
A top-level domain name is simply a domain name that is on the highest level. That is, it starts with a www. and ends “dot something.”
For example, www.patrickcarpen.com is an example of a “top level domain name.”
So if www.patrickcarpen.com is a top level domain name, what is a “bottom level domain name?” There is no such thing as a bottom level domain name! That expression doesn’t exist. So top level as opposed to what? As opposed to “subdomain” or “subfolder” on a top level domain name.
Back in the early days of the domain gold rush, many smart techies rushed to register the catchy domain names. If you think of two common words that occur “naturally” close to each other, then, chances are, these will make a great domain name. For example, “greengrass.com” would make a very great domain name. Although there might not be a company or product named “greengrass,” the expression “greengrass.com” is catchy and naturally occurring, and because of human tendency to be curious, millions of people might type in “greengrass.com” to see what comes up.
OK, so let’s go ahead and type in “greengrass.com” and see what comes up. OK. Did you check? I did. It turns out that the domain name “greengrass.com” redirects to a golfing website. Do you see how smart some humans are?!
You know, when I first started browsing the internet, I was looking for a good car sales website, so I typed in “carsforsale.com.”
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that whoever registered the domain name “carsforsale.com” has put their hands on a golden asset. Go ahead, type in carsforsale.com and let’s see what comes up. Turns out that it’s a car sales website! I have no doubt in my mind that whoever registered this domain name has been and still is making a silent fortune from it!
Now that you have a general idea how domain names are formed, what catchy domain name that will attract millions of users can you think of? Or, what words will you use to create your next domain name?
Lesson 8: Hyphens in Domain-Names