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Blogging: Understanding Domains

Guest post by: Jamaal Abdul-Ali

Article Overview: The history and evolution of domains, where to get them and how to use them.

Blogging: Understanding Domains

According to Wikipedia, a domain name is an identification label that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control on the Internet, based on the Domain Name System (DNS). In the 1960's, when the computers began connecting to each other, identification was needed for the various systems to be accessed. As the numbers of connections grew so did the need for a more effective system.

The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) was created and responsible for assigning the unique address for each computer connected to the Internet, by 1973 the Internet Protocol (IP) system was born. Still unable to keep pace with the frenectic growth and demand, University of Wisconsin technicians developed the first "name server" that was a more simple easy to remember system. This represented the birth of the current addressing system in use today.

By 1990, the Internet exploded commercially and a year later the "WORLD WIDE WEB" was originated and introduced by Tim Berners-Lee.

Domain names are typically classified by levels, for instance, the more prominent .com's, .net's and .org's are considered your top level names. Below these would be the second and third level names, usually open for reservation by end users like you and me who wish to connect to the Internet. Each domain must be registered and administered through domain name registrars.

To give you an example of how the different levels of names work in conjunction with each other consider that you would start with the top level such as .com, directly to the left of that would be your second level as in, domain.com and the third level would be immediately to the left of that,like, yournamedomain.com. So, for clarification "your name" would be the 3rd level domain, "domain" would be the 2nd level domain and ".com" would be the top level domain.

There could be 4th,5th,6th levels domains on into infinity.

So, now that you have a little background and understanding, how do you get one of these names. Well, thankfully, it is rather simple. There are many companies referred to as domain registrars, GoDaddy is one that comes to mind, that offer a littany of services from providing names, web hosting, marketing, website builders etc all under one roof, however, you will find that spreading these services around to other vendors may be better for you because one providers web-hosting may be better than another, and another's may have a better overall marketing plan, still, another may have better pricing, you get the point. Take your time and do some homework.

Once you've decided on a vendor it really boils down to you simply choosing the name of your choice based on what you want to do with your business or hobby. Should it be your given name, something memorable, eye catching, a great sound to the ears, only you know for sure. If it's for business you want to make sure it reflects what the business is about so you can correctly position yourself for the search engines. You will have to take your time with this process and come up with many choices because it's common for the name you like the most to already be taken. It's a process, but, still, a simple one.

There is a science to choosing the most effective name for your website or blog as it relates to search engine optimization and its vital that you understand it if you will be blogging for business. That's outside the scope of this article but can be easily achieved by scouring the search engines.

The intent here was to give you a good, clear and basic understanding of domains and how they relate to blogging and the Internet, hopefully, I've done that. This is number four in the series of five about BLOGGING.

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Article Tags: dns, domains, evolution, godaddy, iana, top level
Referred by: http://jaykubassek.com



Related Forum Posts
Blogging for Entrepreneurs - If you run a small company, you may find that the world of blogging for Entrepreneurs is a world that you want to be a part of. Blogging is a great way to get the word out to consumers about your product or service, and it can even be useful for inspiring employee loyalty and helping you keep your workers at peak morale. If you are looking for a way to take your business to the next level, consider what starting a blog might be able to do for you. Blogging for entrepreneurs has a lot in common with all other types of blogging, but it has its own unique pitfalls and strengths. The key to having a successful blog as a business owner is keeping your goals clear and concrete at every step of your blogging adventure. It can be all to easy to get sidetracked, especially if you are just learning about the exciting possibilities of blogging technology, but if you want your blog to succeed you need to stay focused. Write up a plan for how often you will update, how you will promote your blog and retain readers, whether you will feature photographs or video, and other aspects of your blog, and then stick to it with the same kind of determination that you used when you built your company.
Re: Best Internet Marketing Strategy - Hi David, I agree about the Blogosphere. You have a smaller group that Blog, but do so on the premise that they think they should, but have never really considered the purpose of their Blog. Then I think there are a few SEO or Internet Marketing types that see Blogging as just another link building strategy. But the largest group of Bloggers, tend to be people who enjoy writing and discussing their topics of interest. Blogging is good for link building, but the true Blogger is a breed apart from the rest. They want to dialog, to debate, to have feedback and they are very willing to link to other worthwhile conversations that are relevant to their topic. I agree with you. These group of Bloggers obviously are passionate about their writing and together, they create huge conversation trails interactive and travel from Blog to Blog. But the evidence is clear with this group that loves what they write about. With comments enabled on a Blog and having a Blog tuned to a specific purpose you already have the evidence of original Social Media.
Use of Blogging For Promotion - Blogging might not be the easiest promotion and advertising method however it certainly is one of the cheapest methods. All you need is a hosting package and a domain. Actually you could do it through Blogger and it would be free of charge.
Site promotion and Blogging - Blogging might not be the easiest promotion and advertising method however it certainly is one of the cheapest methods. All you need is a hosting package and a domain. Actually you could do it through Blogger and it would be free of charge
Re: What are the ways to start a business with a small capital? - Blogging stands to be the cheapest way to start. I really agreed with the previous posts. Then you have to really analyse the market you are targeting by this you will be able to spend less in promoting your products. Cheers!


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