Domainnames on the internet
Tips, tricks and information about domainnames can be found here! From DNS, to nameservers and domain pointers to redirects!
On the Internet, a domain name is the starting point of your search on the great worldwide web. A domain name leads you to a place on the Internet where you can find unique content, images, videos or other things.
What is a domain name?
A domain name is a unique name that can be registered with a domain name provider. This domain name provider in turn registers your unique name with a domain name registrar, also called the supplier of the domain name provider. The first .NL domain name to be registered was cwi.nl, which was registered in 1986. The first .COM domain name was registered in 1985.
How does a domain name work?
The registrar is a party that has a management function for each extension. For example, SIDN manages the .NL domain name and Verisign manages the .COM domain name.
These registrars keep track of the actively registered domainnames in a Domain Name System (DNS), also known as the naming systems on the Internet.
A computer, phone or other digital device of yours can visit this database (domain name nameserver) per domain name extension when you surf to the domain name you are typing. Your device receives so-called DNS records back from the name server. These are records that contain unique addresses on the Internet, also known as IP addresses.
The IP addresses tell your digital device where to connect to in order to display content, such as a website, image or video, on the device from which you are visiting the domain name.
The DNS records that manage where your unique registered domain name points to, can often be managed by your domain name provider. These often have their own name servers where the DNS records are stored and are set by the domain name registrar (SIDN or Verisign for example).
What happens when you visit a domain name?
In theory, your digital device such as computer, phone, tablet or similar will then follow the following path when you type a domain name into the address bar:
Your device -> DNS(nameserver) Registrar -> returns Nameservers from your domain name provider -> Queries IP addresses to the returned domain name provider nameservers -> Your device gets the IP addresses and shows the content from those servers/devices/hosting package that have the content you are looking for!
It all sounds very cumbersome, but it’s really processed in microseconds and websites often fully load faster than 1 second!
How does a domain name registration work?
In order to come into possession of a domain name, a domain name registration must be carried out. This means that you register a domain name that you wish to own.
In our case we registered theory7.net as our domain name. After checkout and receiving the domain name registration confirmation, the domain name is officially owned by us for the purchased period. At the end of the period, we are given the option to renew the domain name for another period or let it expire and cancel.
Domain name registration steps
Domain name registration
In this explanation we assume that the domain name is still free. In this case you often click on the button: “Register domain name”. In most cases, the domain name added to the shopping cart and you can choose the holder of the domain name. In short, that is the legal owner of the domain name you choose.
Also, you can often choose the nameservers or DNS records. These are the settings that allow you to link the domain name to a web hosting package or a VPS or Dedicated server.
Once you have this set up, click towards the next step!
Checkout domain name registration
Once you have clicked on the next step you will be taken to the shopping cart. Here you can confirm your domain name registration by checking out the shopping cart with your preferred payment method.
Once the payment is successfully completed, your domain name is often registered in real time and you can visit it often in a few hours after which it is active and shows something in your internet browser!
Popular domain names
If you want to register a new domain name, you will see that there are a huge number of domain name extensions to choose from. You will be that there are some really cool extensions that stand out, but the question is whether that is immediately the most useful for SEO.
Research has shown that it is mainly the top level domains (TLD) that rank best in search engine results (SEO).
Some of the top domain name extensions include the .NL domain name, .COM domain name, .NET domain name, .ORG domain name, .INFO domain name and the .BE and .DE domain names.
Of course, there are many more top level domain extensions that work well. Wondering how many domains are active? Active domain names per TLD
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