What is a Domain?
The internet is a technological landscape of many different parts that come together in a way that is so seamless, most people take it for granted. These parts all work in the background to provide your internet experience. Most of the internet is made up of web pages that you access every day for various services.
Most small business web pages seem to have been an afterthought in the beginning of their business. They are usually small with a brief description, contact information, and a picture. The older the business, the more likely the information is out of date and the page is forgotten.
So what exactly is a web page?
Well, now we are getting too far ahead because you haven’t asked what a domain is. It’s okay. DNS or the Domain Naming Service is the boring part of the internet for many people. A business domain is often an overlooked asset, because people do not understand it.
Domain names were developed, because people are bad at remembering numbers. People know they can type Facebook.com into their browser, but no one is going to remember 31.13.66.35. That number is called an IP address and is used to tell the internet where the Facebook.com server is. Domain records also tell the internet where to send your email. Think of it as the internet house address for your business that tells the world where your website and email lives. Both live on a server, which is usually run by a company that is called a hosting provider, which has a server that has an IP address. You buy your domain through a registrar. It is the registrar’s job to know who owns what domain and the IP address of the server hosting the domain. The DNS hosting provider in turn tells the internet where the e-mail, webserver, and a variety of other services are located.