We first explain what domain names actually are and why we need them. URLs are similar to domain names, and we will also discuss the difference between these two notions.
What is a Domain Name?
A domain name is the address of your website that people type into their browser to visit it. So a domain name is just a user-friendly way to access websites. For example, www.example.com is a domain name. A domain name may or may not include 'www' at the beginning - modern websites often omit it for simplicity. For example, yourcompany.com is also a domain name.
Domain names follow a hierarchical structure, reading from right to left, with each level separated by dots. Top-Level Domains (TLDs) are at the end of a domain name, such as .com, .org, or .net. For example, in the domain name mail.google.com, the TLD is .com, and next is the second-level domain google, and mail is a subdomain of google.com.
What is a URL?
While often used interchangeably, URLs and domain names are not exactly the same thing.
A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is the complete web address used to locate a specific page or resource on the internet, for example http://www.example.com/blog/article-name.html. It includes the protocol http://, the domain name www.example.com, and optionally a path /blog/article-name.html to a specific file. A protocol is a set of rules that defines how data is transmitted and received over the internet.
The standard protocol for transferring web pages over the internet is HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol). However, it is not secure, meaning data sent between the browser and the server can be intercepted. HTTPS (HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure) is a secure version of HTTP that encrypts data sent between the browser and the server. This ensures that sensitive information, such as passwords or credit card details, is protected from hackers.
So a URL contains a domain name, but a URL also includes other components as well (protocol and path).
Next Steps
Now that you understand domain names, the next step is to choose and register one. Check out our guide to proceed.
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