Overview

A domain name is your website's unique address on the internet (e.g., example.com), allowing users to visit your site without typing a hard-to-remember numerical IP address.

Anatomy of a Domain Name

• Top-Level Domain (TLD): The extension at the end of the address, such as .com, .org, .net, or country-code extensions like .co.uk and .ca.
• Second-Level Domain (SLD): The unique name chosen by the creator, sitting directly to the left of the TLD (e.g., "ajsmedia" in ajsmedia.com).
• Subdomain: An optional prefix added to the domain to organize or host distinct sections of a site (e.g., blog.ajsmedia.com or shop.ajsmedia.com).

How the Domain Name System (DNS) Works

When you enter a domain into a web browser, it queries a global network of servers called the Domain Name System (DNS). The DNS matches the human-readable domain name to the server's unique numerical IP address (e.g., 192.0.2.1), routing the user's browser to the correct hosting server in milliseconds.