What does it mean to register a domain name?

Registering a domain name reserves the right of the registrar to use that name as the address of a website for the length of time specified in the registration agreement and to renew the registration to keep it from becoming publicly available at the end of the agreement.

Significance

The domain name becomes the address for a website, the text between "www." and the generic top-level domain designation, such as ".com," ".org" or ".net." Technically, it is a subdomain of the top-level domain, the location of a website within the top-level domain.

Function

Your domain name is how visitors know and remember your website and one of the main factors that determines where and how your website appears in search engine searches. It is important, then, to select a domain name containing words or phrases that relate closely to the information or service your website provides.

Availability

Hundreds of websites provide domain name registration services. Most also feature a search engine to make sure your chosen domain name hasn't been registered by someone else. If it has, you must choose another one or engage the services of a domain name reseller to find out if the registrar is willing to sell the registration.

Cost

Registering a new domain name is relatively cheap---on average, between $8 and $12 per year---due to competition among registrars. Depending upon its usefulness, a currently registered domain name can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars if it is available at all.

Misconceptions

Registering a domain name is not the same as buying a website; your website must still be designed, built and hosted. Nor does it grant the registrar outright ownership of the name. In 1999, the Trademark Cyberprivacy Prevention Act made it possible for parties to sue "cybersquatters" who infringed on their names or trademarks, and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers' Uniform Domain-Name Dispute-Resolution Policy handles cases in which domain names are confusingly similar or in which a registrar is taking advantage of a similar product or service in bad faith.

Source:

2 Create A Website

Trademark Cyberprivacy Prevention Act

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers