| When you are choosing a domain name you will | | | | an example using Google. |
| probably be looking for a .com or maybe a .net. This | | | | - Second Level - or |
| on the whole is sensible advice, but if you are | | | | - Sub-domain - or |
| offering something a little bit different on your | | | | You do not need to enter the www part of the |
| website and you want to stand out then there is | | | | address in your browser, just typing in will take you |
| another path you can take. | | | | to the website. |
| First let me give a quick and simple explanation of the | | | | Now you know how a web address is made up you |
| different parts that domain names are made up of. | | | | can use your imagination to come up with a clever |
| Let us start with the top level, this is the end part of | | | | and distinctive web address. If you take a look at |
| any web address such as .com or the myriad of | | | | del.icio.us you can see an interesting use of the |
| other top level names that are now available. The | | | | available domain names to spell the word delicious. |
| part next to the top level domain is called the second | | | | Here they have registered the domain name icio.us, |
| level domain. The second level domain is the part that | | | | the us part is the top level domain that represents |
| you register with a domain name registrar. For my | | | | North America. A sub-domain of del has been created |
| site the second level domain is NameSearchDomain. | | | | on their web server which completes the creation of |
| The part at the from of the web address is the third | | | | a catchy web address. |
| level domain, this is excluding the www part. The | | | | Why not use the same principal to create your own |
| third level domain is often referred to by your web | | | | web address, there are many top level domains to |
| host as the sub-domain, it is just a sub-domain of the | | | | choose from, far too many to list here. As many of |
| second level domain name. You can set this part up | | | | the less well known top level domains are not used |
| with your web host if it allows you to use | | | | there will be a lot more domain names to choose |
| sub-domains. | | | | from. You can use this method to create a distinctive |
| This is a very high level overview of how a web | | | | web address and become more memorable to your |
| address is made up, there is more to this but for our | | | | visitors. |
| purposes this is all we nee to know. To clarify here is | | | | |