Domains Explained
We all have addresses that tell people where we live; domain names are addresses for the internet. Once you have a domain you can use it as an address for lots of different services, the most common being websites and email.
Why register a domain name?
You may have been given email addresses and webspace by the ISP that you use to access the internet. The problem is that these facilities tend to use domain names that include the name of the ISP - for example, your website might be johnsmith.myispname.co.uk.
As well as looking unprofessional, you are tied to your ISP - if you change to another provider, all of your email and website addresses will change.
Having your own domain name means that your website and email addresses are easier to remember, plus it looks much more professional. And because the domain is registered in your name, you can take it with you when you move service provider.
Registering a domain name
Domain names must be unique, just like postal addresses or telephone numbers. In order to use a particular domain you must therefore register it to ensure that you, and only you, can use it. If someone else has already registered your choice of domain, then you will need to think of another name.
Once registered, you need to arrange email and/or web hosting services for your domain. Purple Cloud can register your domain and also provide these services, or you can register your domain with us and host it elsewhere.
Domains can only be registered for a limited number of years, usually two, before they need to be renewed. If you do not renew your domain then it will be released back into the pool of available domains for others to register.
Types of domain
You may have noticed that domains always end with one of a number of extensions, such as .com, .org or .uk. These are called "top level domains".
Each country has its own top level domain - for the United Kingdom it is .uk. Individual countries have different rules on how they manage their domain - .uk uses a system of second level domains. This means that rather than registering names such as myname.uk, you must choose from the available second level domains such as "co", "org" and "me", resulting in domains such as myname.co.uk, myname.org.uk, etc.
Many people and businesses choose to register their name using several top and second level domains - for example, as well as purplecloud.com we also have purplecloud.net and purplecloud.co.uk.
The following table lists the domain types available through Purple Cloud, along with their intended usage:
| .com | A commercial organisation |
| .org | A not for profit organisation or charity. |
| .net | An organisation involved in the provision of internet related services. |
| .biz | An alternative to .com. |
| .info | An alternative to .com. |
| .co.uk | A UK based commercial organisation |
| .org.uk | A UK based not for profit organisation or charity. |
| .me.uk | A UK based individual. |
Moving a domain
Once registered to you, you can move your domain name between service providers. For more information, refer to our guides to transferring domains to or from Purple Cloud:
Transferring domains to Purple Cloud
Transferring domains from Purple Cloud