What is a domain name? You may wonder. Or maybe you always wanted a special domain name to call all your own. Domain names are not as big a mystery as you might think. Quite simply, a domain name is a simple name that you type in the address bar of your web browser. For example, activewebhosting.com is a domain name. It's much easier to remember than the internet's way of routing your browser to a web site.

The internet basically uses addresses to determine how to get to a web site. It's much like your house address where you live. If someone is trying to find you, you would give them a street name and a house number. Or even your city, state and zip code. This specifies exactly where you live. The internet is much the same way. To tell someone where your web site is, you need an address. Of course, these addresses are a series of numbers and dots. So, a special server matches these series of numbers and dots with a domain name so that people can use your domain name to find your web site instead of remembering a pile of numbers and dots. Learn more about Domain Names.

Domain names can be fun. You can have one that is your own name, or a hobby you enjoy. Perhaps you like cars. Maybe you would want a domain named after your car such as mikesbluemusclecar.com or something. Be careful though that you do not pick a domain that is a trademarked name, contains a trademarked name or someone else's name other than your own. Some companies don't appreciate it and may complain or try to take the domain away from you. Being creative is not only the safest, but the most fun! We accept any legal non-adult domain name when you sign up for hosting, as long as the domain name isn't taken. How would you know? One quick way is to type it in your address bar of your browser and see if a web page comes up. If it does, then someone already has it. If not, and you get a message saying there is no such domain, then you can sign up using that domain and it's all yours! And the best part is, we automatically renew your domain name for you so you never have to worry about it expiring as long as you are hosting it with us as part of your hosting package.

When you sign up for hosting, or buy more hosing, you get to choose a domain name during the sign-up process. Do realize that when you first sign up, it can take up to 36 hours for your domain to go online for the world to see.

To learn more about domains please visit our Frequently Asked Questions Domain Section.

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