Why do we need domain names?
A website is a collection of web pages that contain content (text, images, files, and other information). The pages, along with all their content, are stored on a web server – a real computer. The domain name is the location address of these pages. When you type a domain into the search box, the browser understands where to look for the desired server.
Previously, site addresses were specified in numbers. To find a site, the user entered the IP address – a combination of four numbers separated by dots. But if a computer can store any number of numbers, people can’t keep in their heads several hundreds of IP-addresses. That’s why numbers were replaced by text names.
The task of the domain name is to make it easier to remember the address of the site. That is why it is preferable to choose as a domain a short and memorable word or phrase. If the site files are moved from one server (hosting) to another, it may change its IP-address, but the domain itself remains unchanged.
The domain is also used:
- For mail setup. For example, you purchased a company.com address. If you set up a corporate email, users can email you at contact@company.com. From this email, you can send mass emails through the email distribution service.
- For parking. For example, you have started to develop a site, but are afraid that someone will take the right address earlier. Buy a domain, and then place a banner on it to notify you that the resource will soon be up and running.
- For redirection. It helps to direct visitors to another site or page. For example, after a website redesign, the domain has changed. In order not to lose visitors, set up redirects – when the user specifies the address of the old site, the browser automatically opens the new site.
