What is a Domain Name?

Internet domain names are the alphanumeric identifiers we use to refer to hosts on the Internet. Such as Altmint.com or yourquidget.com

These are all domain names which are registered by official registrars with various domain name authorities. These authorities make up part of an international database or “domain name system” overseen by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

Domain naming system

Internet domain names are organized by their levels, with the higher levels on the right. For example, for the domain “www.altmint.com” the top-level domain is “com”, the second-level domain is “altmint.com”, and the third-level domain is “www.altmint.com”.

Top-level domains

In the Domain Name System… there is a hierarchy of names. The root of system is unnamed. There are a set of what are called “top-level domain names” (TLDs). These are the generic TLDs (EDU, COM, NET, ORG, GOV, MIL, and INT), and the two letter country codes from ISO-3166.

Second-level domains

Second-level domains are registered by individuals and organizations.  This is the actual name of your website.

Domain names must be at least two characters long and no more than 63 characters maximum, excluding the top level domain. The characters can include any combination of letters, numbers or hyphens. The first and last character cannot be a hyphen. Domain names are not case-sensitive

Third-level domains

Third-level Internet domain names i.e host names / sub domains are created by those that own second-level domains.