About 20 years ago, the Internet entered our lives tightly, but until now, most users do not quite understand what a domain is and by what criteria it is chosen. The most popular misconception is that the 3rd level domain is undervalued and rarely used. Is it really indecent to use it, for example, by online stores, and what should be followed when choosing? And also what is the difference between the concepts - domain, domain name, domain zone?
Concept and classification
So, first, a little about definitions. A domain name, or domain, is a symbolic name for a site to identify it on the Internet. For example, yandex.ru is a second-level domain name. The domain zone is the ending following the dot, in this example it is.ru, which means the site belongs to Runet.
Most often, domain zones are divided into groups based on the territorial basis:
- national (if binding to a specific country is needed -.by,.ru,.ua, etc.);
- international (if there is no such link -.com,.info,.biz, etc.).
Another classification implies dividing them by topic:
- .info –for news and information portals;
- .am and.fm for radio stations;
- .tv - for TV channels;
- .biz - for commercial sites;
- .name - for resources associated with an individual, etc.
Some use organizational domain zones:
- .net - for Internet companies;
- .com - for business;
- .org - for non-profits;
- .edu - for educational programs.
These domain zones are first-level domains. If you add a word before the dot, you get a 2nd-level domain (for example, yandex.ru), and if you add one more dot and a word ahead, then you get a 3rd-level domain (news.yandex.ru).
How to choose a domain zone?
Of course, first of all, you should decide who the site will be aimed at.
For the Russian-speaking audience, the.ru domain zone is suitable, for the Belarusian audience -.by, for the Ukrainian.ua, etc. If you do not need to bind to a specific country, then it is better to choose the international.com zone. Large companies with an extensive Internet trading structure prefer to have a site with the same name in several domain zones at once. For example, dom.ua is for Ukrainian customers, dom.ru is for Russian customers, dom.com is for international payments.
To specify a specific country or region, use the list of domain zones.
Russian domains
A feature of the domestic Internet is the use ofnot only Latin letters, but also Cyrillic - this is the domain zone.rf,.moscow,.online (for live broadcasts),.children (for sites with a children's audience),.org (for public organizations),.site (for personal portals, blogs, etc.) and some others.
You can often find domain names associated with certain cities and regions - spb.ru (St. Petersburg), msk.ru (Moscow), nov.ru (Novgorod region), etc.
How to choose a website name?
Internet resources are becoming more and more difficult to find a unique site name. Therefore, options with two or three words through a hyphen are gaining popularity. For example, simple-domain-name.ru. The abbreviation can be used, but on condition that it is well known, for example, the National Bank of Belarus - nbrb.by. An incomprehensible abracadabra of several letters is not the best option, because the user is unlikely to remember it and will not be able to type from memory in the future.
The main thing is that the domain (domain name), domain zone are easy to remember and reproduce later. Do not use misspelled words - cofe.ru or cofie.ru. Ask your friends to write down the address by ear. If, when pronouncing, a person was able to accurately enter it, then other users will be able to find you.
If the name of the company is not important for you, try using a keyword (phrase) in Latin in the name, for example, computer.ru.
What are third-level domains for?
In some situations it is more appropriate to apply3rd level domains, for example, when it comes to a blog or portfolio. In this case,.name can act as a domain zone. An example is ivan.ivanov.name. At the same time, the second-level domain will be available to all other Ivanovs.
But of course, most people use 3rd level domains when they don't want to pay for a site. For example, if this is not a commercial resource, if the administrator wants to practice the basics of web programming in this way, if this is a trial version of the site. How to get a domain for free is described below, but for now we will analyze what is required to open a 2nd level domain.
How to get a domain?
So, the name of the site has been invented, it remains only to check it for uniqueness and register it so that the site can start functioning. To do this, you first go to the WHOIS information service and check if the domain is free.
If the name is unique, go to the website of the accredited registrar of Rucenter - nic.ru. Here, domain zone registration will require the following steps:
- Acquaintance with the rules for the provision of services and the conclusion of an offer contract in electronic form. If you wish, you can conclude a paper version by arriving at the main office of RU-CENTER or by sending a printed version by mail in a double copy (the second one will be returned to you after signing).
- Filling out the site administrator questionnaire (as an individual, legal entity or individual entrepreneur), submitting documents. This stage should be treated with special responsibility,because with the slightest mistake, data mismatch, you will not be able to transfer the rights to the domain to another person in the future and you yourself may lose the ability to manage it.
- Creating an order for a domain and related services.
- Pricing and payment in various ways - cash, non-cash, online payment, etc.
For those who for some reason do not want to pay money for a site or take their first steps in site building, there are free domain zones. What are they and how do they work?
How to get a free domain?
It's worth mentioning right away that it's almost impossible to get a 2nd level domain for free. And if you come across such an offer, then, most likely, in a year you will still have to pay for a place, and a lot.
Free 3rd level domains are much more common. How to find them?
One of the options is to turn to free hosting and website builders - ucoz.com, narod.ru.
The second option is to enter free domains in the search engine to get to English-language resources, where there are more chances to get a quality domain. Among the first you will find the site freenom.com, where you can not only register a second-level domain in the GA, TK, CF, ML zones for free, but also bind your DNS, and then manage your own website for a fee. There are a lot of similar resources here, for example, registry.cu.cc, codotvu.com, freedomain.co.nr and many others.
New domain zones are gaining popularity -.cu.cc,.uni.me,.cz.cc,.eu.org.de.cc,.at.cc,.ch.cc and more.
As for domestic services,.pp.ua (private person) offers good conditions for obtaining a free domain. Here you can conveniently place some personal website or personal blog.
The main question related to such domains is how relevant the search engine is to them and is it possible to promote the site to the top on such platforms? To do this, enter the query site:ch.cc or site:at.cc (for Google) or url= .ch.cc in the search engine of interest and see if such domains are indexed in the search.
CV
Domain, domain name, domain zone - something without which no site can function. Summarizing all of the above, there are 5 key steps to connecting a domain and creating a website:
- Selecting a domain zone according to the principle most suitable for you - territorial or thematic.
- Creating a domain name and checking it for uniqueness through a special WHOIS service.
- Concluding an agreement for obtaining a domain with the Russian center RU-CENTER.
- Activation of additional services.
- Payment in a convenient way.
That's all there is to getting a paid domain. If you want to do it for free, there are only 2 steps - find a suitable service that will provide a 3rd-level domain on conditions convenient for you, and create a unique domain name.
The only thing, in this case, there may be a problem with website promotion, because search engines prefer paid domains of the secondlevel, which means that your site is unlikely to get on the first line of the search query.
