What is a domain name?

A domain name is a human-readable address for a computer on the internet. yourbusiness.com is a domain; so is google.com.

Computers do not use names. They use IP addresses — numbers like 203.0.113.10. Nobody wants to remember those, so the domain name system (DNS) exists to translate between the two. You type a name, your computer asks DNS what address it points at, and the request goes there.

Registering a domain means paying a registry, through a registrar like us, for the exclusive right to use that name for a period — usually a year at a time.

Read a domain right to left, because that is the order the system reads it in.

• The extension (.com, .com, .africa) is the top level. Some say what you are, some say where you are, and some are simply available
• The second level (yourbusiness) is the part you choose. This is what people remember
• The subdomain (www, shop, mail) is a division of your own domain, and you can create as many as you like at no extra cost

So in shop.yourbusiness.com, you own yourbusiness.com and shop is yours to create.

This is the distinction that confuses most people, so it is worth being plain about.

The domain is the address. The hosting is the building. You can own an address with nothing at it, and you can have a building nobody can find. A website needs both.

They do not have to come from the same supplier — a domain registered here can point at hosting anywhere, and hosting here works with a domain registered anywhere. Keeping them together is simply fewer logins and one renewal date.

• Exclusive use of the name for as long as you keep renewing it
• Full DNS control — point it at a website, at email, at both, at nothing
• Unlimited subdomains, which cost nothing extra
• Email on your own domain, if you add hosting
• The right to transfer it to another registrar whenever you like

What you do not get is permanent ownership. A domain is leased, not bought. Let the renewal lapse and it goes back on the market, usually after a grace period and a redemption fee.