Everything You Need to Know About Domains and Email Addresses
Posted on 5th April 2022
There are a number of common misconceptions that seem to pop up within the world of web design and running a website. One of the most frequent that we at it’seeze Horsham come across is the confusion surrounding the difference between a domain and an email address.
This tends to occur because when businesses consider building their own websites using some of the popular website builders that are currently available, these offer the option to choose a personalised domain and also an email address to go with it. As such, people get the two mixed up. This article is going to discuss in a bit more detail the difference between a domain name and an email address and also suggest what you should think about when picking your own domain..
What is a Domain Name?
A lot of components go into making a website but one of the things that all of them have in common is a URL. A URL is short for a Uniform Resource Locator and is what you see in the search bar at the top of websites. The domain name of a website goes into this URL and essentially represents the address of that specific website. Generally speaking, they end in .com but there are over 1500 valid domain extensions (e.g. .net. .org and so on).
The domain name is completely unique to one individual website and as such, if you type in the domain into an internet browser, it could only ever take you to one specific site. This needs to be kept in mind when choosing your domain name so that people can find your website and understand what you do easily. We will discuss in more detail how to choose a domain later.
What is an Email Address?
An email address is different from a domain name, but it does have a domain name within it. That being said, even with this in mind, the two are formatted entirely differently. Instead of the normal layout of a domain that has www, an email address has a username and then instead of a full stop an email has an @ symbol.
For example, say your name was Mike and you had a website that sold amazing power tools, chances are your domain and email would look like this:
Domain - www.amazingpowertools.com
Email – mike@amazingpowertools.com
Emails are used primarily for communication and rather than type it into an internet search browser, a user would be much more likely to type it into an email server. They would use this address in order to send you a message in the same way that people would use a house address when sending a letter.
Where Does the Confusion Come From?
It’s easy to get confused between domains and email accounts so don’t worry if this has happened to you. The two are closely associated with one another and do look very similar. Not to mention, there are ways that you can change your URL depending on where a user is on your website and when that happens the two begin to look even more similar. This occurs when you use a word at the beginning of the URL as opposed to the www. For example, if someone is on the blog of amazing power tools, it would read:
Blog.amazingpowertools.com
When you compare this with an email address, they almost look identical, so confusion between them is hardly surprising.
How Can You Tell the Difference?
The most effective way that you can tell the difference between the two is to simply look out for the @ sign. This is a clear indication as to whether something is an email address. If there is not an @ sign, then you will know that you are looking at a website’s domain instead. It is impossible to find an email address that doesn’t have an @ symbol so this is the sure-fire way to know what you’re looking at.
How Should You Pick a Domain Name?
So, now you know the difference between the two, it is clear that the first thing you and your business will need to do is choose a domain name. Upon doing this you will be in a position to showcase your business online. There are a few things you will need to consider when picking one that is right for your business, which includes:
Incorporating keywords: keywords are important when it comes to your domain because these will show people what it is that your business does. There may not be something as obvious as “amazingpowertools” available, but you want to make sure you paint a clear picture of what you offer.
Easy to spell: the last thing that you need is to miss out on potential customers just because they were unable to spell the name of your website. Sure, what you have chosen might look good when it’s written out but if it is difficult to spell then you might want to have a rethink. Word of mouth is an incredibly important marketing tool and having an easy to spell URL will assist with this.
Keep it short: similar to the above, if you want people to easily reach your domain and know how to spell it plus what they should search for, then the most effective way you can do this is by keeping it nice and short. These are a lot easier for people to remember and therefore they are much more effective when it comes to branding purposes.
Do You Need Help with Domains and Emails?
If you have started up your own business and need some assistance when it comes to navigating the world of domains and emails, then you should consider enlisting the help of a professional web design company such as it’seeze Horsham. We have staff on hand who will help by getting to know your business and work out what is best for you. If you have any questions on how it’seeze Horsham are able to assist your business, then do not hesitate to get in touch.
Tagged as: Website tips
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