Distinguished ideas begin with a domain name

A domain name is like the address of your website, like an identifier. It allows users and new customers to search not only your website, but also your professional email address and any other services you might associate with it. It is also the basis of the URL for links leading to your website.

Technically, a domain name links a human-readable name (your domain name) to a computer-readable address (a series of numbers known as an IP address).

Here is, generally, how domain registration works. Registries manage and sell domain names under the domain endings (.net, .fr; .com, .org, etc.) they are responsible for. Domain name registrars, like Hostenya, are accredited by these registries to sell multiple domain names with each of these domain endings to end users (individuals, small businesses, large companies, associations, non profit organization etc.). An end user, then, will buy a domain name from a registrar, where they can do a domain name search of every domain ending. Once registered, a domain name is associated with an Owner Contact, who becomes the owner of the domain name for a specific period of time. If a domain name appears as "unavailable" in our search results, that's because it's already registered to someone else. You can check who owns it using our Whois serviceor look for alternatives using our domain name search tool.

So you want to create a website, but the web address you wanted is already taken and you don't want to "fall back" on another domain ending or use a different name. You have a few options, including finding the owner thanks to the Whois and offering to buy the domain name from them. The Whois is a directory that lists the technical and contact information of domain names, created when a domain name is registered with a registrar, such as Hostenya. The whois contains information about the registrar, the domain registration and expiration date, and especially the update date, which is the last modification made to the domain name. This is a good indicator to tell you whether the domain name is active or dormant. Then you can try to contact the owner. The whois is not always the solution, though, since it isn't always kept up to date (if a contact changes, for example), but especially because GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) prevents registrars from publishing the contact details of an owner (if not a company) without their consent. As a last resort, you can try to contact the owner through the contact page most websites have.

Think of your domain name as your address and web hosting as the physical structure. If you want to launch a website, you’ll need both: a domain that people can use to find you and hosting to store the actual website.

While it’s technically possible to have one without the other, they work best together. This is why many hosting companies offer domain names and many domain registrars offer hosting services.

Each gTLD carries a slightly different meaning, so it’s usually best to pick one that’s most relevant to your website.

Domain names ending in .com are commonly used for commercial purposes, although they’re becoming the default option as they imply a certain amount of trust. .net domains were originally used by networking companies, such as internet service providers, but are now multipurpose.

Domains ending in .org are still largely used as originally intended – as the gTLD for charities, communities, and local organizations. Meanwhile, .info is aimed at information-based websites such as wikis and tutorial sites.

With all of these gTLDs, there’s a certain amount of wiggle room. There’s no rule saying you have to use one type of domain name or another. Think of the above information as guidelines.

Privacy protection is sometimes called WHOIS protection because it hides certain information about a domain name’s owner that would otherwise be discoverable through a WHOIS lookup.

Privacy protection lets the domain registrar replace your name, address, phone number, email address, and business name with a set of generic, non-identifiable information.