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What's a domain name?

Domain name is a Web address, such as winshosting.com, that is linked to an IP address (which represents a physical point on the Internet). When someone types a domain name into a Web browser, the requested Web page displays.

A domain name consists of a top-level and a second-level domain. A top-level domain (TLD) is the part of the domain name located to the right of the dot (winshosting.com). The most common top-level domains are .com, .net, and .org. Some other popular top-level domains are .biz, .info, .name, and .ws. These common top-level domains have certain guidelines but are, for the most part, available to any registrant, anywhere in the world.

There are also restricted top-level domains (rTLDs), like .aero, .edu, .mil, .museum, .name, and .pro, these require the registrant to represent a certain type of entity or to belong to a certain community. For example, the .name TLD is reserved for individuals, while .edu is reserved for educational entities.

Country-code TLDs (ccTLDs) are for Web sites and registrants of a particular geographic location, such as .pk (Pakistan), .bz (Belize), .ca (Canada), .dk (Denmark), .ec (Ecuador), .ie (Republic of Ireland), .uk (United Kingdom), .us (United States), and .zw (Zimbabwe).

The part of the domain name located to the left of the dot (winshosting.com) — "yourpersonaldomain," in this case — is called the second-level domain (SLD) name. The second-level domain name is the "readable" part of the address and refers to the organization or entity behind the Internet address. Second-level domain names must be unique on the Internet and registered with an Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)-accredited registrar.

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