Domain Name

Sometimes companies have phone numbers that correspond with letters to make them easier to remember, like 1-800-FLOWERS. The Internet equivalent of a phone number is an IP address, and the domain name is simply a word or group of letters that corresponds to a numerical IP address.

You can buy the rights to your own domain name, and have it point to your Web pages, whether or not you have your own server . You can theoretically have many URLs for one site: You could own the domain "site.com," which would point to the same page as www.host.com/site, which is the URL that your provider gave you for free.

The company in charge of domain names is called Internic. It charges $50 per year for the use of a name, and you will most likely need to pay your Internet service provider a fee for the work they do in order to get the domain up and running.

You can check to see which names are already taken and register for a domain on line at http://www.internic.net, but you should contact your provider before attempting to register a name. You'll need information from them.

Do you need a domain name? Maybe. The primary reason for having one is to make it easier to advertise your site by word of mouth. If it is very likely that you will be advertising your site off line, thus necessitating that people remember the name, or that your customers will be likely to recommend your site to their friends in conversation, it may not be worth the money to register a domain name. Also, it is very possible that the domain name that you would choose is already taken. If so, it may be more practical to use the URL that your Internet service provider assigns to you.

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