What is a domain name and why do you need one?

November 18, 2022

Reading Time: 3 Minutes

Imagine being placed in a large classroom and not being able to be identified by using your birth name for proper addressing. The ability to identify and locate a website’s domain through its URL is one of the most important features that any brand or business can have access to. 

What is a domain name?

A domain name is a human-readable address of a website. When placed inside a URL bar to be fetched, there is a conversion that takes place in the background where this human-readable name is converted and translated into its IP (internet protocol) address.

An easy way to think of a domain name is to think of it as the equivalent of finding an address to a friend’s new house. You would receive the new address and place it into your GPS with the intent of receiving the route. The address serves as the human-readable forward-facing variable but after GPS receives it, it takes the address translates it, and renders the exact coordinates in the background. When this happens, you are provided with an appropriate route to reach the destination without any issues.

Simply put, a domain name is a name that you select for use (i.e. www.1place4tech.com) that provides the technical path to the direct location of a website on the internet.

Do I need a domain name?

While a custom domain name is not a necessity, it is highly recommended to obtain one because it provides significant benefits that can help elevate and strengthen a brand or business that a free generic domain simply can’t. 

Benefits of a custom domain name

Selecting and using a custom domain has some benefits that can help grow and provide your brand or business while also providing the option for a designated online home that can be accessed by millions at any given point in time. A few additional benefits include an increase in the following aspects:

• Discoverability: The use of a custom domain provides the opportunity to be seen and discovered on the internet via search engines through relevancy. Unlike generic names, a custom domain will typically rank higher and improves your SEO (search engine optimization). Search engine robots crawl and check various aspects of a website to determine its relevancy for search queries. An important aspect of that crawling includes the domain name.
• Branding: Domains help centralize the branding of a brand or business by helping to promote it with its name. When a custom domain is chosen, it typically reflects what a brand or business is selling allowing its digital presence to be aligned with its purpose.
• Trust: With the influx of online scams occurring, a custom domain provides a level of legitimate trust to those surfing the internet. A custom domain shows that the business or brand is legitimate and that the necessary steps were taken to obtain and connect the domain to a consistent URL.

As it pertains to deciding on a name, you can let the creative juices flow when coming up with an available naming combination that you would like users to type into their address bar to access your website.