What's a domain name?

Basically speaking, all computers on the internet talk to each other through a standard set of protocols called IP, or Internet Protocol.

You don't need to know what this means, but one part is important. All IP devices use an IP address that consists of 12 numbers grouped in threes, although this may change in the near future as these numbers get used up.

An IP address could be 209.211.171.069 which would mean having your website visitors type in http://209.211.171.069 every time.

So a system was created to associate IP addresses with aliases that the client could remember easily.

To notify the user that this "number" is an internet address or World Wide Web address, the letters WWW are put at the beginning of the domain name.

Next comes the actual domain name itself, say YourDomain.

Finally, the type of domain name is indicated by a two, three, or four-letter extension like ".com" for commercial, or ".org" for organization and so on.

The HTTP:// is an abbreviation for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol which just means how the information is transmitted.   So that's how you get http://www.yourdomain.com.

Why would you need one?

As mentioned above, IP addresses are composed of numbers which are not easy to remember.  People will more easily remember www.thissite.com than 209.178.032.017.

It also helps to associate the content of your website with the name of your domain.  If your domain name is www.mycar.com, then people can expect to find information about your car at this website.

How Do You Get One?

You can purchase a Domain Name from a Domain Name Registrar like Network Solutions or Register.com or from literally thousands of others.  If you already have a domain name and would like advice on selling it or purchasing another one, a new service is available called Domain Name Appraisal and can be found at http://www.valuations4u.com.