What is a domain name?

You want to start your own website and have a cool name like CoolPeopleAroundTheWorld.com but don't know where to start? We are here to help!

A domain name is an easy-to-remember name that you want your visitors to use to remember your site. For example, facebook.com, google.com, and microsoft.com are all domain names.

Your domain name will translate into a set of IP addresses that your computer can interpret to locate where you have stored your website files.

A domain name is similar to a house number. A visitor might know roughly where you live but not the exact house number to ring the doorbell. A domain name and IP address solve that problem. The IP address tells the visitor which area you live in, and the domain name provides the exact house number to ring your doorbell.

Simple? Next, you will need web hosting in conjunction with your domain name to have your website live on the internet. You can check out the What is Web Hosting article to see what web hosting is.