Domain Names 

 A domain name is the unique name of a website. It functions like the site’s home address on the World Wide Web.  A domain name is the address of a website that people type in the browser to visit . For example, computer-tutors.co.uk.  Think of it in these simple terms, if your website was a house, then your domain name will be its address.

The internet is a huge  network of computers.  Each computer is assigned a number which is called an IP address, and it looks like this: 185.151.30.157

Different Extensions

Domain names are available in many different extensions. The most popular one is .com. There are many other options like .org, .net, .tv, .info, .io, and more. However we would recommend using  co.uk,  and .com domain extension. There’s more than 10 million co.uk extensions  registered.

A Top-Level Domain

A top-level domain (TLD) is the part of a domain that comes after the dot, for example, com, org or net.

Generally, you can divide TLDs into two types:

Generic top-level domains (gTLD) – Roughly all domains that are not associated with a country. The most known are com, org and net. All gTLDs fall under ICANN’s policies. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) helps coordinate the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions, which are key technical services critical to the continued operations of the Internet’s underlying address book, the Domain Name System (DNS).

The IANA Functions Include:

The IANA functions include the management of protocol parameters, Internet number resources and domain names. 

  1. The coordination of the assignment of technical protocol parameters including the management of the address and routing parameter area (ARPA) top-level domain;
  2. The administration of certain responsibilities associated with Internet DNS root zone management such as generic (gTLD) and country code (ccTLD) Top-Level Domains;
  3. The allocation of Internet numbering resources; and
  4. Other services.

Country-Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLD)

All domains that are identified with a country or geographical location, for example, de, nl or dk. A ccTLD always consists out of two letters. Over the last years, a lot of new gTLDs have become available, for example, .agency, .email or .house.

Nominet Manager Of UK| Registrations

Nominet UK is currently delegated by IANA to be the manager of the .uk domain name. Nominet directly manages registrations directly under .uk, and some of the second level domains .co.uk, .org.uk, .sch.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, .ltd.uk and .plc.uk. Nominet also manages the .wales and .cymru domains. For over 20 years, Nominet has been operating at the heart of the internet infrastructure as guardians of the .UK domain name registry. Nominet now manages and runs over 10 million .UK domain names, as well as over 75 top level domains, including .wales, .bbc and .london. 

Costs Of Registering Domains

On average, registering a new domain name costs between £8-16/year. Domain renewal prices cane be higher, ranging from £8-47/ year or more. Prices may differ based on the domain.

It is advisable for you to  note your domains renewal dates.  Google.com, one of the most valuable domains on the Internet, was mistakenly sold for $12 . Google paid $12,000 to get it back. The buyer was a former Googler, Sanmay Ved, who discovered Google.com on the list of domains available for sale on September 29.29 Jan 2016.

In 2022  Google’s domain name, google.com, was worth an estimated $400 million. This makes it the most valuable domain name in the world.

Online World Map

Online World 2020 – In 2020 Nominet released a  new map of the Online World to visualise the size of ccTLD registries across the globe. View & Download The Online Map.