The domain name is the text “address” of your website. For the computers in the Internet to know addresses, there is a set of numbers, such as 162.194.92.1 called the IP address, assigned to each computer. Since it is not that easy for humans to remember/use number series like these, we use words instead. When you want to find a particular website, you would type the domain name into the browser address bar directly, or else use a search engine like Google, Bing or Yahoo.

For example, I chose BonnieSites.Solutions as my freelance website building company name, and my domain name is bonniesites.solutions. Much easier to remember than something like 162.194.92.1, right?!

So, how does one select a domain name?

First, you will want to have at least part of your business name included, the whole name if it’s not too long. Too many characters will make it too much work for the customers, and we want to make it as easy as possible for them!

Second, you will need to decide on the TLD, or Top Level Domain. This will the the end of the domain name, for example, the old standbys are: .com, .net, .org or one of the newer TLDs available like: .us, .life, .shop etc.

Last, you will need to check if there are social media handles available that are as close to exactly the same as possible. For example, if your business was ABC Shipping, your domain name could be abcshippping.com, and Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Instagram handles could be ABCShipping. You will want to check they are all available before ordering your domain name, because once you have it, you can’t change it! You can order another, however, no refund will be given for the first as far as I know.