Domains - One Dozen Important On Page Ranking Factors

Have you ever asked yourself, "What is a domain, anyway?" Well, take a look up there at the top of the screen. See that part at the top of your browser window in the URL bar? It's the part that starts with "https://" in the address bar. The second part of the URL is the domain. In our case, it's freeonlineseoadvice.com. A domain name is a label that identifies a network domain: a distinct group of computers under a central administration or authority. Within the Internet, domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System. Any name registered in the DNS is a domain name. There are 330 million domain names that are registered in the world (2019), and the list continues to grow. Choosing the right domain name for your website is crucial for your success. If you choose the wrong domain name, then it can be a hassle to switch later on without hurting your brand and search rankings. That's why it's extremely important that you choose the best domain name from the start.

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Domain Name Extensions

The dot com or ".com" always has been and still is the most popular domain name extension. This domain ending is followed by the German .DE Internet code, the Chinese .CN country domain extension and the generic .NET web address. It is very likely that .CN will surpass .DE shortly. Other very popular extension include .UK (United Kingdom), .ORG (organization), .INFO (information), .NL (Netherlands), .EU (European Union), and .RU (Russia). There are today are more than 280 Internet domain extensions in total.

What is a Subdomain

A subdomain (also known as a child domain) is a domain that is part of a larger domain; the only domain that is not also a subdomain is the root domain. It is used as an easy way to create a more memorable Web address for specific or unique content with a website. For example, it could make it easier for users to remember and navigate to the picture gallery of a site by placing it in the address gallery.mysite.com, as opposed to mysite.com/media/gallery. In this case, the subdomain is gallery.mysite, whereas the main domain is mysite.com. You can add up to 100 subdomains per domain name. You can also add multiple levels of subdomains. For instance, you can add info.blog.coolexample.com to delve into an even more specific area of interest on your site. Each subdomain can be up to 25 characters long.