| What are domain names for? If you are starting a | | | | and control what happens with your address. This |
| website, you need to have a web address, also | | | | includes essential tools like redirects and so on. |
| known as your domain or your URL. | | | | What happens is that your website host has a literal |
| There are a wide variety of companies out there | | | | address that your files are stored at on their server, |
| with a wide range of prices which sell domain names. | | | | and your domain names are sent to that (usually |
| Technically you are not buying the name, but a | | | | complex looking) address. This gives an easy to |
| temporary license to use the URL online for a certain | | | | remember way for your site visitors to get to your |
| period or time (often 1 year at a time). With an | | | | site without having to see "the man behind the |
| annual domain registration, you can assign this | | | | curtain" so to speak. |
| address to your site. | | | | It doesn't seem fair that, if you come up with a |
| You may even purchase multiple domain names and | | | | unique website address, that you should have to pay |
| do what's called a "redirect." Using this technique, you | | | | someone to use it. Does it? True. It really doesn't |
| can have visitors arrive at the same site regardless | | | | seem fair! However, there is a benefit to the fact |
| of which of your addresses they type into their | | | | that people are required to pay for domain names' |
| internet browser. | | | | registration. This system prevents random people |
| The company that provides registration of domain | | | | from using up every URL and then wasting these |
| names is called a "domain registrar." The very most | | | | addresses on useless content (or worse, not using |
| basic package includes a panel that you can log into | | | | them at all). |