What is a domain? Can I get a free domain in 2021?

Noel Bangne·22/07/2020·0 comments

A domain name or domain is the name of a website. simplified a domain is what comes after “www.” in a web address or “@” in an email address.

Examples of domain names/domains in web address could be Facebook.com, Youtube.com, or google.com. And xxx@hotmail.com or xxxx@gmail.com in email address. 

What is the difference between a domain, URL, and a website?

Before bringing your business or brand online, you have to start considering what to call it and in the decision making, you are going to see a lot of terms like domain name, website, URL, and a lot more. 

Basically, they all related to having a website on the internet, but they do not all mean the same and it is important for you to know the differences between each term before you are ready to make a decision. 

Domain:

Before creating an online presence, you have to purchase a domain name. And that can be done by going to a domain host or registrar, by finding a name that is not in use and paying a fee to own it. 

Upon choosing a domain, you will have the opportunity to choose from various domain name endings. You can choose based on your country or depending on your trade such as xxx.dk, xxx.eu, xxx.clothing, xxx.com, xxx.uk etc. If you are considering buying a domain name check this page: …….

Are domain names unique?

As you know now, a domain name is a website name, so it is the address where the visitors can get access to a website. And every domain name is unique because websites can not have the same name. 

Can a domain names be negative?

Domain names can be negative and have the power to hinder the growth of your business. 

The companies viewed the way of negative domain names, with the development of the .suck era. It works by somebody who can buy a negative domain name to use to express their opinions and harm your business. 

They can damage your brand’s integrity and reputation trough negative domains such as “your website name” xxxx.sucks.com, and by doing that your reputation can be tainted. So to protect your brand, you can, therefore, buy your business negative domain name before anyone else. 

What is an URL?

URL is an abbreviation for “Universal Resource Locator” and is a complete web address used when you want to find a specific web page.

To clarify it, the domain is the name of a website, and a URL will lead the user to any pages within a website. All URL contains a domain name and other components needed to pinpoint a particular page or content on the internet. 

Known examples are, http://www.google.com,  https://www.facebook.com, or  https://www.youtube.com/xxxxcontent.

What is a website?

A website is what you see and interact with after you type and search on a URL. Simply by buying a domain, you have the name for your site, which you have to build and transform to your website. 

Basically, a website is a collection of content, often build on multiple pages, that is assembled under the same domain. See it as a park, where the domain is the park name, the URL is the address of the park, and the website is the actual park, with the trees and etc. 

So the website is built by content, and can be done much easier, faster, and cheaper than building a physical park. To accomplish that, there are many companies that make it possible to build and customize your website in a few hours, without having any knowledge of coding.

 Altogether in order to create your website, you have these steps in order:

  1. Obtain a domain name such as “businessname.com”.
  2. Find a domain registrar and host such as Hostinger.com
  3. Build your website on providers such as Hostinger.com
  4. Make your content such as product pictures, videos, etc. that the visitors can see on your website.

Are domain names free?

Domain name registration are not for free, but there is some way to get a domain name without paying for it. 

First of all the free part is not actually for free. The reason is that there is a lot of companies who can give you a free domain name by profiting from you indirectly. The companies give away free domain names to customers who host their websites with them, so the actual fee for the domain name is recouped from the hosting fee. 

Then there are other companies that offer a free domain in return for you to display adverts on your website. Also, some companies do it for gathering personal information that can be sold on to advertisers. 

There are other ways to receive a free domain name, but basically it would be easier and better to buy a domain name, because of the downsides of free domains.

Conclusion:

A domain name is the address for your website and works by forwarding visitors to your website. 

All domain names can be transferred from one provider to another and every domain name registrar has a different signup process. 

You can buy a domain name from a hosting site such as Hostinger.com, and a domain name must be registered before you can use it, and all domains are unique, so if someone types your domain it will go to your website and no one else. 

Though you should be aware that there are negative domains that can be harmful for your brand if someone would want to harm your business. 

In daily meaning, domain means “an area of territory that is owned or controlled by a certain ruler or government. But in computing, it means a clear subset of the internet with addresses sharing a customary suffix or under the control of a specific organization or individual. The term “Domain” is used equally with “domain name” which is a definition particular to local networks.

Domain name registration is purchased on an annual basis and cannot be purchased permanently. You can buy several years at a time, to secure the domain name in these years, after which the domain must be renewed again.

If you have several domains, the domains can be combined in the same web hosting account. Certain web hosting providers limit the number of domains you may have associated with your web hosting package, most often this is done in order to get you to purchase a larger web hosting package. It is also important to look at how many resources you are going to fill into your web hosting account. If you already know you will need a certain number of files or expect more traffic, then choose a larger package so that you do not experience resource problems later on.

In reality, you can opt out of using a domain name, and instead of using a domain, you can use the name servers instead, which make up a lot of numbers. It is not easy to remember a lot of numbers for your visitors, therefore it is highly recommended to have a domain associated with your website so that it becomes easier to access for your visitors.

A domain name makes it easy for your visitors to remember your website address with words such as your company name. The alternative would have been for your visitors to dial a series of numbers to a specific IP address, to access your website. It is therefore highly recommended that you find a domain that is easy for your visitors to remember and that looks professional.

At some web hosting providers you can get free domain the first year in some of their web hosting packages. You can often associate either a brand new domain or transfer a domain you own that resides with another provider.

First of all, if you buy a web hosting package, you often get first year domain fee for free. Let’s look at how different it can be by choosing to buy a domain one place over another. There are a few benefits to buying a domain from certain providers. Let’s look at the differences below. When you register a domain, it is your minimum one year ahead, depending on how long you have purchased the domain.

Same domain, but different price.
If you research the market for domain prices, there can be a big difference in the prices. Some drive with a big discount the first year, but where the price increases significantly the following year. Therefore, it is super important to find the solution that you are most comfortable with. We recommend taking a look at providers that run with a good average fixed price on the domain so that there is no reason to move domain to a cheaper provider later on.

Which TLDs are offered?
Some registrars offer only the most popular TLDs such as .com, .net, .org. while other providers offer many more niche domain names like .shop or .blog. However, it is recommended that you first purchase the .com domain, if possible.

Domain management
A few domain providers do not have a definite user panel such as cpanel which makes it easier to make domain changes such as CNAME, TXT, MX etc. If you want to be sure of having a good domain management system then choose a web hosting provider that offers Cpanel, Plesk or other management systems so that it is easiest for you to change settings for your website / domain.

.com domain are the most established and credible domain name extensions, so you can grab a good .com domain that is appropriate for your website would definitely be recommended. Outside the US, the national TLDs are also used, which will be the good alternative to the .com domain. In addition to national and .com domains, .net and .org domains are the most popular. In recent years, many new niche domain types have been added, but have gained a slightly declining popularity possibly due to the domains being very expensive.

It is possible to buy a domain from 1 year and up to 10 years onwards. It can quickly become expensive to commit to many domains for many years to come, so our recommendation would be to buy the domain 1 or 2 years, see if you benefit from the domain in the period, then renew it for a few years extra or if you does not use the domain, so to get it terminated.

When you enter a domain name in web browser, it will send a request to a global network of servers that form the DNS (Domain Name System). The servers will look up for the name servers associated with selected domain and forward the request to the nameservers.

Domains are not free, but many web hosting companies give them a free domain in their larger hosting packages, so there is a greater chance that you will opt for a more expensive package solution. Web hosting companies that provide free domains in certain packages are: NameHero & Hostinger

When you buy a domain, you have the name of your website, the website itself is where you build the actual pages that your visitors should see. So a domain is the name of a website and a website is where your visitors can interact to see your content. It could be content like pages like front page, product page, webshop, contact page and about us page.

There will be around 140 million .com domains in 2021, while there are over 360 million domains in total.

The most common domain extensions

.com (commercial business).
This is definitely the most used domain extension. Somewhere between 40-50% of all web pages use a .com domain in their extension. .com domains were originally for profit business, while it has now become the first choice no matter what content you have online. The domain extension has a huge popularity and authority, which also affects that .com extensions are sold for extremly high prices.

.net (network)
Like the .com extension, the .net domain extension is used for all kinds of websites. This kind of extension was originally made for internet service providers, but is now often used as an alternative to if the .com domain is not available.

.org (organisation)
The .org extension was originally made for non-profit organizations like charities, but has become an alternative to the .com domain over the years, provided that .com was not available. The .net domain is often used by political parties, non-profit organizations and online comminity organizations. As the domain extension expresses that it is owned by an organization, it will not be used for webshops, as it can be misinterpreted whether it is a company or eg a non-profit organization.

National extension (.us/.uk/.de/.fr/.mx/.it)
Geographically specific domains are also very popular in many countries. While one often has an English language name for .com domains, the national domains are more in the national language, though not specific company names.

Local TLDs are Australia (.au), Belgium (.be), Brazil (.br), Canada (.ca), Chile (.cl), (Colombia (.co), Denmark (.dk), Europe (.eu), France (.fr), Germany (.de for Deutschland), Greece (.gr), Holland (.nl), Hong Kong (.hk), India (.in), Italy (.it), Japan (.jp), Mexico (.mx), Norway (.no), Poland (.pl), Portugal (.pt), Romania (.ro), Russia (.ru), Spain (.es), Sweden (.se), Thailand (.th) United Kingdom (.uk), Uruguay (.uy), USA (.us), Venezuela (.ve)

Other often used domain extensions
.biz (business) – A direct alternative to the .com domain, specifically for businesses.
.edu (education) – Is not open for public registration, but is only used for educational institutions
.gov (government) – Restricted for official use for goverment
.io – originally intended for the British Indian Ocean Territory – Used by a number of internet based companies as it can also refer to Input / output (IO or 0/1), which is a well-known concept in computer technology
.info (information) – Most often used for information or database websites.

No one owns the domain names, but you pay to use them in a specific time frame. You can get the right to use a domain for 1-10 at a time. If you forget to renew your domain before it expires, others can get hold of the domain, and you thus lose the right to use it until it is free again.

Google Domains is okay. The interface is pretty easy to deal with. The prices are the same as many web hosting companies, while Namecheap is much cheaper than Google Domains and most web hosting providers.

If you do not use a domain, your visitors must find you via the website’s IP address which consists of a lot of numbers. So it will make it much easier for your visitors if you have something text-based like a domain instead.
If you have a company, having a suitable domain name, website and email address associated with the company means that your company looks professional on the outside.

First, find out which domain you want. It can be, for example, your company name, or something that describes what you work with. Try to make the domain as short as possible and it should be something that is easy to remember for your visitors. Additionally, it is important to choose the right domain extensions. We recommend that you choose a .com as a starting point. A good alternative for local businesses could be to use national TLDs. However, if the .com domain is available, we would recommend getting it.

You can choose to buy your domain the place you want. However, there can often be a saving to buying the domain along with web hosting as they often provide first year free on the domain. We would recommend buying domains from a few domain providers, so you do not have to remember which 5-10 domain providers you bought your domain from.

Once you have purchased your domain name and hosting, it is important that these two are sync to get a functional website. This is done by getting the domain to point to the right name servers associated with your web hosting.

Domains are not free, but many web hosting companies give them a free domain in their larger hosting packages, so there is a greater chance that you will opt for a more expensive package solution. Web hosting companies that provide free domains in certain packages are: NameHero & Hostinger

You can have a professional email address where you do not necessarily need a website affiliated. There is also no need to be associated with web hosting, as email hosting can be with other providers. All you have to do is connect your domain name to your email or web hosting.

If it is possible to get hold of a good .com domain, it will definitely be preferable, it has a greater chance of outranking niche domain extensions and national TLDs. A .co domain is originally intended for Columbia, so if your content on your website has nothing to do with the country, we would clearly look for the alternative like .com.

The short answer is no. First of all, try to get hold of the domain like .com or the national domain extension in your country. If your domain name is a big brand, it would be smart to buy some national domain extensions, to secure your brand as much as possible. It will never be possible to buy all domain extensions for your brand as otherwise you will end up in niche extensions like .blog, .shop etc. It can quickly become very expensive.

You can have a professional email address where you do not necessarily need a website affiliated. There is also no need to be associated with web hosting, as email hosting can be with other providers. All you have to do is connect your domain name to your email or web hosting.

You will not own the domain, but could use the domain for a certain period of time. As a minimum, you have the right to use the domain for 1 year, but you can buy the right to use the domain for up to 10 years. So if you remember to extend your domain in a timely manner, you can keep it for a very long time.

You can not out of the box just buy you the domain for lifetime. You can only buy the right to use the domain for a total of 1 to 10 years. If you remember to renew your domain before it expires, you can continue to extend it, and thus may experience having it for the rest of your life.

You do not buy a domain, and have the right to it for the rest of your days, but have the right to use the domain for the period you have paid for. You can buy the right to use the domain for a total of 1 to 10 years.


You can buy domains from all web hosting and domain providers. If you buy a domain and web hosting together, some web hosting providers have a free domain with the first year. If you do not buy this together, pay attention to how much you pay for the domain (sometimes you can get a discount on the domain the first year, but pay a price that is far above the normal domain price the following year).

For example, if you need a national domain extension, not all providers can offer this, Hostinger is an international provider that offers many domain extensions. Almost all providers have easy user-friendly domain management, for example if you want to change CNAME, MX and TXT, but this is of course important to keep an eye on so you do not make it difficult for yourself.

An email address has a domain inside it, but it is formatted differently. Instead of starting with www (world wide web), an email address starts with eg a desired name first, followed by the sign @ and your domain name, a dot and your domain extension eg as .com. So your email could look like this [email protected]

Yes, you can have 2 or more domains affiliated sites. The one that is the main domain and the other domains can point to the main domain.

Finding the right domain can be difficult. If you have a company name for your company, it will be the first step to take to see if it is available as a .com domain. If not, check if the company that has the domain is in the same profession as you or you can easily be confused with each other. This is most of all so that there should be no legal issues later on.

If you want some extra inspiration, a site like expireddomains.net is highly recommended as it comes with previous domains that could suit your business type. Sign up for a free account so you have access to far more options for searching for the right domain.

If you are still on the bare bottom with the domain, write down on a piece of paper where you write everything that characterizes the company you are building. When looking for a domain name, it is important that it is relatively short and that it is easy to remember for your visitors.

Your domain name should be easy to spell, it should be unique and should be a name that you will not be limited by later, e.g. if the name characterizes a particular product group and you then expand with other product groups that do not harmonize with the domain name.

Once you have found the perfect domain name, research the domain thoroughly for competitors with the same name so that you do not run into legal issues with the name. Domains are not free, but many web hosting companies give them a free domain in their larger hosting packages, so there is a greater chance that you will opt for a more expensive package solution. Web hosting companies that provide free domains in certain packages are: NameHero & Hostinger

Noel Bangne

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