Glossary

Domain Name

Definition: A human-readable address (e.g. example.com) used to identify a website or internet resource in place of its numeric IP address.

A domain name is the human-readable label assigned to an IP address or set of IP addresses. Rather than remembering 93.184.216.34, you type example.com. Domain names are managed through the Domain Name System (DNS) and registered via accredited registrars.

Anatomy of a Domain Name

Take blog.example.co.uk:

  • blog — Subdomain
  • example — Second-level domain (SLD) — the name you register
  • co.uk — Top-level domain (TLD) — country-code TLD

The root domain (or apex domain) is example.co.uk — the registered domain without any subdomain.

Domain Name vs URL vs IP Address

  • IP address: 93.184.216.34 — the numeric network address of a server.
  • Domain name: example.com — a human-readable alias for an IP address.
  • URL: https://example.com/blog/post-1 — a full address including protocol, domain, path and optional query string.

How Domain Registration Works

  1. You check availability via a registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Google Domains, etc.).
  2. You register (rent) the domain for 1–10 years.
  3. The registrar adds your domain's NS records to the TLD registry.
  4. You configure DNS records to point to your hosting.

Domain vs Hosting

A domain name and web hosting are separate products. The domain is your address; hosting is the property at that address. You can buy them from different providers and connect them via nameserver or A record changes.

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