Domain Name
Some web hosting services include the cost of a domain name in with the cost of their hosting service. The cost of buying an un-owned domain name varies, but not much, generally the cost is in the ten dollar a year range. The cost can go up to twenty dollars a year and as low as a couple of dollars a year; however, the low cost domain name prices are generally an introductory special, usually good for one year, and will go up to the regular price upon renewal. It's not all that easy to change domain name services and there is usually not much reason to change services, so a buyer will probably just keep renewing with the same domain name service, that makes an introductory special a pretty good advertising idea.
On the other end of the spectrum, an owned domain that is for resell can get very pricey. There are lots people who buy and sell domain names as a commodity. Domain names for sale can run from hundreds to thousands of dollars, even millions of dollars, no kidding.
Just for fun check this out: HIGHEST PAID DOMAIN NAMES
http://www.bloggingtip.net/the-highest-paid-domain-name/
Domain Name Cost
Buying your domain name for the first time can be relatively inexpensive, domain services may offer domain names for just a few dollars, but beware, the price can jump when you go to renew your name. You can change services, but as mentioned, it's a bit of work to change your domain service, so check to see what the renewal cost will be before you go with a domain service. Also, one of the ways domain services earn revenue is with add-ons, you might want some add-ons, but again, beware, you can REALLY run up your domain name bill with add-ons, because they have a whole fist full of add-ons. This holds true for web hosting sites also, your fee dollars a month can quickly turn into twenty-thirty dollars a month, so choose wisely.
Domain names are inexpensive and so they are normally sold in yearly units, rather than by the month.
About Buying A Domain Name
Buying a domain name is like getting an assumed name in your home state, the name you register is uniquely yours. But where your state assumed name is only good for your state, a domain name is good internationally. Now that's a problem, there could be a lot of JohnSmiths in other countries that want johnsmithrealestate.com for their domain name? That lead to the creation of dot suffixes for other countries like .uk for United Kingdom and .ca for Canada. Now you can have johnsmithrealestate.co.uk, whole new name.
In the beginning of the Internet there were three dot suffixes: .com, .net, and .org, today there are many more, such as: .name, .info, .biz .us. Now more johnsmithsrealestates can have their own domain name, just by getting a different dot suffix ending.
Dot Suffix List:
http://www.techdictionary.com/domainlist.html#new
Domain Names
A domain name is like a street address, it is the location of a web site. Actually a web site location is a set of numbers, but the numbers are hidden by a domain name which is much easier to remember than a set of numbers; NancysDressShop is much better name than 74.25.74.25.
An addon domain name is fairly new. An addon domain is a domain/web site hosted on the same hosting plan as a primary domain name/web site. At one time most hosting services offered one domain to go with one paid web hosting service, but that has changed. Many hosting services now offer an option to host many domain names (ie. web sites) with one paid hosting plan. The multi-domain hosting plan may cost a little more, but it is generally a very small cost over a basic one site plan. Each domain is simply stored in it's own folder and has a normal domain name.
A subdomain name is when a hosting service or reseller shares their domain name/address with their customers, like an apartment complex has a street address and the residents use that address and add their apartment or unit number.
Street Address: 8900 Apartment Street
An Apartment at that address: 8900 Apartment Street #410
Subdomain web Address: apartment.com/410
The IP address is part of the URL. The URL is the direction or pointer to a web site.
IP = Internet Protocol / URL = Uniform Resource Locator
The URL is composed of:
protocol port (80) pointer: http://
IP numbers (disguise by a domain name): mydomain.com
page name: /contactus
A Domain Name is Already Taken - Domain Name Backorders & Auctions
What if the domain name you want is already taken? The first thing to do is determine if the name is actually being used or if it is being held by a reseller.
Start with doing a domain name search. Most domain name services have a quick search box that will search for domain names and offer alternative suggestions.
If the domain name is already taken, the next thing to do is a URL search for the name, such as http://www./isthisnametaken.com, and see what comes up. Does a business or organization come up or just a holding/parking page with ads or saying the name is for sale. If the name is not really being used, the next step is to go to WhoIs.net and determine when the current ownership of the name expires, often names are only reserved for one year at a time. Research the name at "WHOIS Lookup".
WhoIs.net - Domain name registration information.
On the results page at WhoIs, scroll down a little to see the registration information, because there is a list of alternative name suggestions at the top. There are two possible next steps, you can check out domain name auction sites to see if the name is for sale or if the name is about to expire you can place a back order for the name. (Note, the auction sites are not always accurate as to when the name will expire, rely more on Whois.net.
GoDaddy Backorder Domains - Good explanation of how the domain name backordering system works.
Domain Auctions at GoDaddy.com
- This is a good example of an domain name auction site and how it works.
Mobile Web Sites
While most standard web sites can be viewed on cell phones, they are not designed for optimal viewing on the little screen of a cell phone, so a whole new design set was needed, and it has arrived. There are "how to" articles on the Internet and then there are companies who have created programs to make web sites cell phone friendly.
Update: Mobile websites are now called "Responsive" sites, most platforms and themes now feature this responsive feature, so it is pretty automatic, and some even allow for customizing the responsive layout for optimizing even further.
.MOBI Domains from GoDaddy.com
Google Mobilizer - See how your web site looks on a mobile device, go to this Google page and type in your web site address.
Inc. Magazine - In depth article about mobile web sites.