Every machine on the Internet is identified by a number (known as an Internet Protocol Address); but because we humans aren't very good at remembering numbers, the Domain Name System (DNS) exists to translate these IP addresses into more easily remembered names.

A Domain Name is your address on the Internet; an identity which allows your business to be contacted - in not just one, but a number of different ways. For example, our main Domain Name is tne.co.uk. This is used to identify facilities such as our:

• Website: http://www.tne.co.uk

• Email: info@tne.co.uk

• File transfer location: ftp://ftp.tne.co.uk

Unlike a street address or telephone number, a Domain Name is fully portable. Email sent to "you@your-domain-name.com" is forwarded on to your dial-up account. If you decide to change your Internet access provider, it's a fairly simple matter to change the redirection to your new provider. This allows you to provide a consistent face to the outside world.

You may want to have more than one Domain Name. Again using The Net Effect as an example, we registered tne.co.uk, tne.co.uk which we use solely for our offices in England, and the-net-effect-world-wide.ltd.uk - once registered, the domain name is yours for as long as the renewal payment is made.

There are other options: for instance, we could also have a name which identifies what we do rather than who we are. But you really need to stop somewhere!

The Top Level Domain

Domain Names are "constructed" from the bottom up. The first thing to decide is what Top Level Domain (TLD) you want to use. Which one you choose depends on two things: who you are, and where you are.

If you have international interests, then you might choose:

• .COM if you are a commercial entity
• .ORG if you are a non-profit organisation

If on the other hand, your operations are generally restricted to one country (or you wish to be recognised as being based in a particular country) then you would need to select the TLD relating to that country. (http://www.tne.co.uk/tld.html lists these, and you may want to refer to it).

Suppose that you wish to use the .UK country Domain. You would then need to choose:

• .CO.UK if you are a commercial entity
• .ORG.UK if you are a non-profit organisation

An alternative for organisations registered with Companies House in the UK is to register a domain name linked to the registered name. In this case, you would use:

• .LTD.UK if you are a Private Limited Company
• .PLC.UK if you are a Public Limited Company

For example, we have registered the name "the-net-effect-world-wide.ltd.uk". Whilst the .co.uk form is currently more widely understood than .ltd.uk, and "tne.co.uk" is sufficient to identify us as a commercial organisation with an interest in the United Kingdom, there are advantages to having a name of this type. Please see our discussion of ways to reassure visitors of your legitimacy.

Sub-Domains

Having chosen a Top Level Domain, you then have to decide upon the part which is going to be your unique address. We chose the-net-effect for ours! :)

You can use any combination of the letters a-z, and the digits 0-9 (the name must start with an alphabetic character). You may also use a hyphen character "-" to make the name more readable.

Use your company name, the name of a major product line, or a word or phrase evocative of your line of business. Generally speaking, the shorter the name, the better, since it will be more easily remembered.

Note: each country has its own Domain Name Registrar; the requirements for an acceptable Domain Name, and the charges levied by each registration body, will vary.

Search for your own Domain Name!

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