Website Domains

Your website’s domain is it’s address on the internet.  It is the address that people will type into a browser URL bar to visit your website. You can compare your domain to a business street address. Your domain (lot) is on a boulevard (the World Wide Web). Your domain is the business address of your empty lot on that boulevard. Your website is the (building) you will build on your lot (domain).

The internet is actually made up of a network of computers and each computer can communicate with the others. To identify the various computers, each is assigned something called an IP address which is nothing more than a series of numbers and dots. An IP address might be something like 208.163.201.234. There are currently well over 350 million domains in the world and if you can see the difficulty you would have if you needed to remember an IP number every time you wanted to visit one. So to make it easier for users, domain names were invented. Now, to visit a particular website, you do not need to remember a string of numbers, but instead, just an easier to remember name.

Domain Name Extensions

Domain names are available with a variety of “extensions”. The extension is few letters that follow your domain name and is separated from your domain by a “dot”. By far, the most common extension is .com but other common extensions include .net, .biz, .co, .org and .us. If you are building a business website, the most widely used is .com and we highly recommend you choose a .com extension for your business domain simply because most people automatically associate the .com with the internet.

Choosing a Good Domain

For any business, the easier you make it for others to find you, the better and that is particularly true when it comes to your business website domain. When it comes to choosing a domain, there are just a few simple rules that apply.

• Stick with a .com:  Unless you are setting up a network (.net) or an organization (.org), always try to stick with the .com extension
• Shorter is Better:  When it comes to domains, shorter is always better.  If you have a “longish” business name, explore ways you can shorten it for purposes of your domain.  For example, if your business name is Atlanta Capital Associates, Inc., try shortening your domain to www.atlantacapassoc.com
• Letters, Numbers, and Hyphens:  Only letters, numbers, and hyphens can be used in domains.  You cannot use special characters such as &, %, *, #, @, etc.
• One to a Customer:  Only one person can have a specific domain.  If your domain of choice is already registered to someone else, you will need to choose another domain.
• Easy to Pronounce and Spell: Make your domain easy to pronounce and spell if possible.
• Make Your Domain Brandable: Make your domain unique and brandable.
• Use “Keywords” in Your Domain: Keywords are words that have something to do with your business or services you provide and are important for Search Engine Optimization.
• Avoid Hyphens: Avoid hyphens in your domain.

Purchasing Your Domain Through DataMax

DataMax is a Silver Reseller of website through ENOM, the world’s second largest provider of website domains. And, it is always a “best practice” to have your website’s domain hosting by the same provide that will be providing the hosting for your website files. When purchasing your website hosting plan through DataMax, you will be offered three (3) choices when it comes to your domain…

• Register a new domain: Purchase your new domain through DataMax
• Transfer your domain from another domain host (registrar): You can transfer your domain into DataMax
• Use your Existing Domain and Update Your Nameservers: Keep your domain at your previous registrar but change the DNS settings and “point” the domain to DataMax nameservers.

Domains Purchased at a Provider Other Than DataMax

If you have already purchased your domain at a provider of domains other than DataMax, you will need to change your domain’s DNS record and point it to our servers so we can access it and construct your website.  From your domain host’s Control Panel, you will need to point the DNS to:

• ns1.websitehostserver.net
• ns2.websitehostserver.net