A domain is a very important aspect if you are planning to develop and design a website, whether it's going to be a personal website or for your company. Basically, a domain is a unique name that identifies an internet space such as a website. As websites are the chief and foremost part of a business for marketing and to communicate to its audience, it is necessary to purchase a good domain name for it. It can be a difficult task to decide a good domain. Here are some qualities which a good domain consists of :-

  • Short: Your domain name should be small and concise so that the user can easily memories it. And it should relate to your website.
  • Use Keywords: Mostly, whenever we search for different sites we type keywords in the search bar, therefore while choosing a domain name for your website you can also use main keywords to make the search easier for your users.
  • No hyphens: Do not use hyphens in your domain name. Try to use less number (1-2) of hyphens. The more hyphens you use the less your domain will be user and search friendly.
  • Summary: You can include one or two word summary to your domain name through which the user can get an idea of what the site is all about.

These can be some of the successful tips to choose a good domain name to generate traffic to your site and to take your site in the list of high ranked website in search engine.

Along with deciding the domain name there is an essential part of domain registration .i.e Domain name extension. According to IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) the top level domain extensions are divided into following groups :-

  1. Infrastructure top level domain (ARPA)
  2. Generic top-level domains (gTLD)
  3. Restricted generic top level domains (grTLD)
  4. Sponsored top-level domains (sTLD)
  5. County code top-level domains (ccTLD)
  6. Test top level domains (tTLD)

In former times, there were some selected domain extensions like .com, .org, .net etc or based on country codes. But now there are many new domain name extensions under the generic category like .academy , .bar , .cab , .butique , .dental etc. You can select between the different domain extensions according to your needs. For example: If you want to open a Cafeteria you can choose .coffee as a domain extension for your site.

After deciding the domain name and extension, we should know about the life span of our domain and the registration process. Yes, domains also have a life cycle which includes:

  • New Registration
  • Activation of Domain: A domain needs an approval for its availability. If it isn't available the registrar gives you other suggestions and if it is available it gets activated.
  • Expiration of Domain: After a period of time given by registrar the registered domain is expired.
  • Redemption of Domain: In the redemption phase, an expired domain can be renewed.
  • Pending Deletion: During this phase, any domain cannot be modified or renewed. This phase ends and the domain is released to the public for a new registration.
  • Domain Transfer