Domain Names

Your domain name or url (universal resource locator) is the first part for any website development.
Domain names are simply the address that people will use to find your site for eg. www.ey3.com or www.makemyownwebsite.com.au
Domain names are made up of a series of alpha numeric letters and an extension eg ey3 and the extension .com or .com.au
There are many combinations of letters and numbers available, and many extensions which you can select from, what you choose will depend on the reason for registering your domain name.

Domain Extensions

There are many extensions available and more are released intermittently
The most common domain extensions are:

• .com
• .net
• .org

These extensions were primarily used for American (US) websites, but as they have no country code, people currently use them as the default domain extension.
Other common country extensions:

• Australia - .com.au, .net.au, .org.au (restricted to Australian registered businesses and organisations)
• New Zealand - .co.nz, .net.nz, .org.nz
• United Kingdom - .co.uk, .org.uk
• Europe - .eu
• Asia - .asia
• Others - .cc, .tv, .biz, .info

and there are even more.
Go to Domains Choosing for tips on which domain names and extensions to choose for your situation.

The other part

The other part of the domain name is the alphanumeric characters that make up the word before the extension.
You can choose any combination that is available in your chosen extension. How do you find what is available? You search! Click here to search
If it is available you can register the domain. Just remember that some domains names have restrictions imposed on who can register each domain eg .com.au requires an ABN and for you to have some relationship eg business name/product name with the domain you register.
Don't forget domain names like any other property or business names still fall under trademark legislation. This helps people and companies to protect their trademarked words and terms. In most cases you will not be prevented from registering a word or phrase that is under trademark, but the person or company who owns it may take action to stop you from using it.

What about the www?

The www. is actually only a setting within your internet hosting - so your host will set this up for you.
Essentially it is just a convention and when your hosting is configured correctly, your website will work just the same without the www.
The other part of the url that is usually implied is the http:// which just tells your internet browser that the site uses this format - hyper text transfer protocol, in almost all browsers the http:// is assumed and you don't need to enter it at all.

If you have a domain name already Next Step is Web Hosting

or

Next Step is Domains Choosing

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