As you certainly know, every time you open your browser and type an address in it, or click on a link on a web page, you are soon sent to a new web page. Have you ever wondered how this happens? If you want to or already have your own website, it would be a great start to get a basic understanding on how it works. So here it is in layman’s terms.

Every time you ask your computer to visit a new web page, regardless of whether you typed URL address in your browser’s address bar or by click-through on a hyperlink, you ask your computer to carry out something called HTTP request (HTTP stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol). Picture it as sending a messenger out of your office or house, because that is exactly what it is. The messenger goes to the Internet to find where is the web page you want to see. He asks around in places called routers, if anybody knows where the site you are looking for is. Once he learns the place he speaks to a receptionist there. It is a receptionist who finally tells where the website information is, so the messenger can go and pick it up.

Needless to say all this happens in fractions of a second, but speed is not the point here. The point is that if you want to have your own website, the first thing you need to have is your own reception desk and receptionist, read “address”, otherwise messengers will never be able to find where your website is and no one will visit it. To register an address you have to go to a place called Registry, and there are many of them. Once you sign up for one, you get an official address on the Internet, a domain name.

Domain names

Domain names are unique and exclusive but not permanent. You will be able to use them as long as you keep your registration active. If you stop, then anybody else will be able to register the domain name to his/her name.

A domain name usually has up to three parts. Check the example below for clarity:

http://domain-name.tld.cctld

• The domain name is the name you choose. We chose InTechCenter, for example.
• TLD stands for Top Level Domain, and originally tried to classify websites broadly according to their purpose: Commercial websites would use .com, organizations would use .org, networks of people would use .net, websites for individuals would use .name… You get the idea. In real life, however, nobody really respects that so just use any domain name you want and find available for your project.
• ccTLD stands for country code Top Level Domain, and its aim is to help classify websites per country like .us for the United States or .fr for France and .it for Italy. It is usually more respected, but still there are companies which grab a local domain name ignoring the country classification. Twitter, for example, usually redirects links through a t.co domain name, despite the fact that .co is in theory reserved for websites registered in Colombia.

If you are curious, here is a list of the top level domains and country codes for other nationalities. If you want something easier to read, here is the Wikipedia page with a summary.

How to buy your domain name

As mentioned above, to get your domain name you need to register it. There are hundreds of registrars online, and, like in any other business, each of them lists their own prices and terms and conditions. Our advice is to surf the official list of Internet registrars, compare prices and terms, and choose what is best for you. This can be time-consuming though. Easier way is to go to www.register.com or www.godaddy.com and look for availability of your name. If you are not willing to waste time in all that research, then contact us, and we will help you take care of the situation for you.

3 Tips on Domain Registration

The first one is always read the fine print. There are companies which offer you a domain name for free or as a total bargain, but they come with a catch which is often more expensive than registering with someone else. Be careful with that.

The second one is to make sure the domain name is registered to your name. Many web designers will try to register the domain name to their name instead of yours, making them the legal owners of the domain name. When you establish your name and website gets significant traffic they will charge you extra fees on domain renewals, and you won’t be able to do much about it if they are the legal owners …unless you want to get new domain and start building traffic from scratch.

The third one is do not forget connecting your domain name with your server once you have finished the registry (in technical terms pointing a domain to a server). If you forget your website will not be publicly available until you do.

More about this in the next article.