What is a domain name?

Basically this is your address on the internet. This is our schools domain name:

woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk

Our school is Woodlands Junior in Kent which is in the UK.

To enable each computer on the internet to locate and exchange information with each other, they have unique addresss called Internet protocol (IP) addresses. These addresses are numbers. The IP address for "Woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk" is 194.238.189.6. Numbers are difficult for humans to learn, so each address is also given a name, known as the domain name.

If you sign up for free web hosting at a place like tripod.com your web site address would be something like: http://members.tripod.com/~yourname. However, If you want to be taken seriously on the internet then you should consider buying a domain name.

The popular fast food chain McDonalds went ahead and bought the domain name mcdonalds.com. Their web address (sometimes known as URL) then becomes www.mcdonalds.com. This is easy to remember as it is the same as their restaurant name.

However, their are pitfalls for choosing a name and you need to be aware of these. Some of your visitors may mistype youe domain name. Unless they type the domain correctly they won't find what you. For example, if you type
www.macdonalds.com you will not be directed to mcdonalds.com but instead to another site where someone is hoping to make some money from your mistake.

To find out more about domain names, visit our Guide to Internet Addresses.

How to buy a domain name

Some people, known as cybersquatters, have bought domain names for well known companies hoping to later sell them to their proper owners for millions of dollars. Although this practice is becoming increasingly illegal around the world (Madonna wants to be handed control of madonna.com), it is still legal to buy a domain for as little as $15 and then later sell it for thousands. For example, loans.com was sold for $3 million! If you want to see the latest selling prices then visit Great Domains or AfterNIC.

Towards the end of 2000, over 30 million domain names had already been registered. More than half of these had the well known ".com" suffix.

Schools

In England, it was easy for us to apply for our school's domain name. There are rules here stopping other people taking the school standard domain name.

However, we can't stop people cashing in on our success. There are several domains contain adverts where people are cashing in on our 'brand name'. These include woodlandschool.com, woodlandskent.com and woodlands-junior.com

Schools should contact their LA to find out what their domain name is. All schools in kent have a domain name - nameofschool.kent.sch.uk

The cost of a domain name.

The cost of buying (or more correctly renting) a domain name was quite high at $70 for two years. This was due to there only being one place to register. However, the law has now changed and more companies are allowed to carry out this service resulting in much lower prices.

When calculating your costs, you need to consider that you might only be paying for a domain name. Usually you have to pay extra for web hosting. A domain name is really just a pointer. People type your address, a database is consulted, and in a matter of seconds they are directed to the place where your web site is hosted. If you ever move your web site to a new host, all you have to do is have your record changed in the database and people will be sent to your new location. Most people won't see the difference.

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