Would you believe that there was a time that the internet didnt have any domain names During those days the internet was very much like a telephone network. If you wanted to visit a site, you would have to type that site IP address. And without domain names, visiting other websites became a chore.
In the olden days of computing, websites went by their IP address. So a particular site might be accessed by typing its IP address on the browser like so: 200.221.0.183 If you miss a number, and fail to notice it, you could get connected to a totally different machine.
The beauty of domain names is this: it allows the user to use a language friendly text address instead of complicated numbers. This text address is called the domain name. Computers need to communicate using these numbers.
But these numbers are confusing to humans because we dont talk that way. A system called the DNS (Domain Name System) takes the domain name you type in the browser and looks up the corresponding IP address for that domain name.
Domain names usually have two or more parts, or labels, which are separated by dots. The rightmost part of the domain name is the TLD top level domain. This is symbolized by a 3 letter marker: com for companies, net for networks, org for organizations, edu for educational institutions, mil for military, and gov for governments.
Lately there have been additions to the top level domains; the most notable among them is the biz top level domain. Sometimes a CLD or country level domain is added further right to the top level domain. These domains are a two letter representation of the country the site represents. For example: xxxxx.com.au.
The .com is the top level domain; the .au means that the site is Australian. The xxxxx is the domain name, or subdomain name, depending on whether there are other non-TLD and non-CLD labels on the domain name.
Domain names do not belong to anyone, except for the NIC or Network Information Centre. In theory, anyone could use a domain name. However, you would still have to pay for the handling of the domain name registration. Domain names are not sold, they are leased. After the lease is over, other people interested in that domain name may apply for its lease too.
History
It was the ARPAnet (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) that developed the idea of using a more human-legible address for sites over the internet as opposed to machine IP number.
Originally, each computer on the network would download a file called hosts.txt. This file would help the computer map domain names against their actual IP addresses. This system, fact is still used in network systems such as the Windows OS.
As time passed by, the networking world reached a consensus that an international organization to maintain and monitor these maps. In 1983 Paul Mockapetris invented the DNS. This is the same system we use today.
Domain names have made surfing the World Wide Web easier. It has been said in many academic circles that the DNS is responsible for making the internet user-friendly and accessible to everyone.
This lead to the dramatic explosion in popularity of the internet. Now everybody can use the internet without having to be a rocket scientist or a genius.
James Monahan is the owner and Senior Editor of and writes expert articles about domains.
A name can make of break a web site. I am of course talking about a Domain name.
You may think there is nothing to it. Pick a catchy domain name that rolls off the tongue, check that it is available and if it is go ahead and buy it. It couldnt be any harder that that can it
Well, yes it can. Just stop and think for a minute. You have bought the domain name, designed and built a great looking website, and launched it out onto that great world wide web. You have got a great Reciprocal Link Exchange on your site and you have reached a reasonable Google Page Rank.
Then you decide to get an Auto responder to have a mailing list, and that is when your troubles start! Let me tell you my story
I dont know if you have heard of Stone Evans - the Home Biz Guy He runs the Plug in Profit Site. Well I bought into his business. I had to decide on a domain name before he built my website. I chose the name martinsoffers.com. I though that was quite cool as my name is Martin and my site would be advertising offers.
Part of the Plug in Profit Site is you get your own Auto Responder, filled with a 360 day newsletter ready for when you sign up subscribers. I went ahead and bought a good quality leads package and loaded them into my auto responder.
All was going well. Or so I thought.
After a while, I noticed I was not getting any response from my good quality leads (on average you should expect around 1% sign up at the very least). I did some searching around, mainly in the Warrior Forum which is part of the membership package of the Plug in Profit Site. There I saw a series of posts on the American Anti Spam Laws and the effects it was having on the newsletters.
With the Auto responder, there was a spam check program. Id never used that before, but I ran a few sample newsletters through the spam check. Boy, was I in for a shock. Every single one failed to pass the test. My auto responder is probably like most others, it has a scoring system and once it passes 5 it flags up that your newsletter would trigger the spam filters.
What I found most disturbing was that it was my domain name of martinsoffers.com that was scoring the most, 4.3 points each time it was mentioned. And 2.3 points because my email address was @martinsoffers.com.
Even a single word newsletter with just www.martinsoffers.com scored 6.6. Way above the threshold.
The cost to me, as a result of this has not just been to register a new domain name. I have had to completely redesign my website with my new name on it. Cancel and reopen a new account with my auto responder. And start again with my Reciprocal Links Exchange.
I have also had to start again from scratch with the Google Ranking. And I have a domain name that is next to useless to me or to anyone for that matter. I only use it now to direct traffic meant for martinsoffers.com to my new website.
So, thats my story, and my warning to you.
Before you go and register a new domain name, run it through a spam check. If you are going to use your web site for marketing the last thing you want is for the spam filters to stop your email getting through.
Martin Wood
Martin Wood is one of a growing number of people who have found working at home on the Internet a rewarding experience.