What is a Domain Name?
A domain name represents your "address" on the Internet. It is a written phrase that contains several components separated by a period ("dot").
Internet computers that track and locate each domain name actually use numeric addresses (e.g. 123.123.123.123) , so that within the system each domain name has a numeric equivalent. You don't have to worry about this since Domain Name Servers (DNS) take care of the matching. However, this is the reason why each domain must be assigned to a functioning Domain Name Servers.

Do I get a web site when I order a domain name?
No, neither do you have FTP access. You will need to provide your own web host.

Who should register a domain name?
Anyone trying to establish a presence on the Internet should register a domain name. Domains can be brands, trademarks, service marks, company names, products, services, family names, your name, organizations, interests, etc.

What are the Benefits of Owning a Domain Name?
Like any trade name, logo, or brand name, your domain name represents a part of your business identity - something customers and business associates can recognize, remember, and positively associate with your services or products. Registering your domain name will at very least prevent someone else from using it. More important, however, is that with your own use on the Internet it becomes a constant positive reinforcement.
With your own domain name, access on the World Wide Web becomes a simple matter of entering Yourname.com. No one has to write it down, they remember it.
Similarly, every Email message affirms your name as your address becomes:
YourName@YourName.com
Simple, elegant, and much more effective than:
user995@mail.someunrelatedprovider.com

Who Owns the Domain Name?
You, the applicant, are the owner of the domain name. The owner (known as the Administrative Contact) has full authority and responsibility for the domain name and its use.

Can I Register a Domain Name by Myself?
The answer is Yes. But depending on whether you have the proper expertise and equipment. The rules and format for domain registration are quite specific and certainly complex in all their permutations. With enough attention you could learn the procedures by yourself. However, the main stumbling block to registering for most people is the requirement that you must have name server computers set up to respond to the domain name for routing. This refers to the Domain Name Servers (DNS) located all over the Internet which perform the translation back and forth between domain names and their numeric equivalents, called IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. Without this equipment and capability, the domain name will not be registered.

What Rules Determine the Form of Domain Names?
A Domain name has two parts, with the "top level" domain indicating the broad category of an organization. For example, names ending in .COM are normally assigned to commercial, .NET normally for general web sites, names ending in .ORG are assigned to non-profit organizations. .INFO for information type of web sites.
"Second level" domains represent your specific name, i.e.: yourname.
Example being the "nameseek" in our domain name would represent the second level portion of a domain name.
The total length of the two-part domain name may be up to 67 characters (including the .com).
The only characters allowed in a domain name are letters, digits (numerals) and the dash (-).
A domain name can not begin or end with a dash.
Capitalization (lower or upper cases) is ignored.

Should I pick a .COM, .NET, a .INFO or a .ORG domain name?
And should I pick just one?
You should pick a domain name you are comfortable with as your online identity. Whether it is .com, .net, .info or .org, they all work equally well, but .Com names are the most popular. It is not uncommon for businesses to register multiple names and variations of desired names (brands, trademarks, service marks, etc.).

Can I Register More Than One Domain Name?
Yes. Many large companies, particularly in the communications and entertainment industries hold registrations for many domain names covering various trademarks, trade names, or simply variants on their company names.

What is DNS, or Domain Name Service?
Computers identify each other with numbers rather than words. Each domain name is therefore assigned a numeric equivalent, called an IP (Internet Protocol) address, which might look something like this: 123.12.34.1
DNS (the Domain Name System) is a set of distributed databases containing these numeric equivalents and their corresponding domain names. DNS has servers located all over the Internet which perform the translation between names and numbers for other computers. This arrangement allows users to invoke an easy-to-remember name (yourname.com) rather than a difficult string of numbers when seeking out a site on the Internet.

What are these other extensions such as .cc, .ws, .du, etc?
Two character extensions are called country codes and are used for country code designation. They work the same as the .com .net .info .org. There are some 240 or so country codes for nations and territories around the world.