Domain Name Basics last modified 2021-07-22

A domain name:

• Is a name used to identify your presence on the Internet

• Attaches a name to a person or company’s email or website addresses so the person or company can readily be found

• May be used for a website, e.g., www.yourcompany.com an email, e.g., sales@yourcompany.com, or both

• Allows the moving of email or website to a different provider without affecting the person or company’s customers

• Must be hosted somewhere

• Is not the same thing as having a website

• Must be unique, not already registered

• Consists of two parts separated by a period (dot):

  • Your chosen name, e.g., yourcompany
  • The extension, e.g., .com, .net, .org, etc.
  • Contains any letters and numbers, but no punctuation marks other than a hyphen (-)
  • May be no more than 63 characters long For more information about domain names and policies, see the The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) FAQs.