DNS, Domain Names, and Github Pages

So far, you’ve learned the basics of how to code a website. While learning how to code a website is important, knowing how to get users to your website is just as important. In this lesson, we’ll go over what DNS means and how it works, getting a domain name through namecheap.com, and hosting your website using Github Pages.

DNS

DNS stands for Domain Name System. DNS is essentially a database that links a website name (such as google.com) and an IP address (the corresponding IP would be 216.58.209.142). When you type a URL into your browser and hit ‘Enter’, your computer performs a series of steps to retrieve and load the webpage for you. It first looks in its local DNS cache to find the information you need. If it’s not there, it will request for information from subsequent DNS servers. Once the information is found and retreived, your computer stores a record in its local DNS cache, gets the IP address from the record, and returns this to the browser. The browser then establishes a connection to the webserver and displays the website to your screen. Amazingly, this all happens in just milliseconds.

Getting a Domain Name

Now that you understand the concept of DNS and translating domain names to IP addresses, we’ll discuss how you can actually obtain a domain name. There are many services that allow you to buy domain names, but we’ll just focus on namecheap.com. Once you visit the website, you’ll see a huge search bar in the middle of your screen. Simply type in a domain name and see if it’s available or taken. There’s a good chance that the domain name you think of will already be taken.

However, not every domain name is a good one. Here are some tips to help you choose a good domain name:

1. Make it easy to type and remember

You want your domain name to be memorable and easy to type in. Avoid using commonly misspelled words or uncommon words. You don’t want a user to spend time wondering how to spell your domain name. You lose a good portion of your marketing value and branding if you have a complicated domain name. This isn’t a spelling bee, so keep it simple.

2. Keep it short (but not too short)

Even if you use simple words and it’s easy to remember, you don’t want to register a long domain name. For example, thequickbrownfoxjumpsoverthelazydog.com is memorable and fairly easy to type, but it’s way too long of a domain name. On the other hand, you don’t want to make your domain name too short. For example, changing the previous example into tqbfjotld.com successfully shortens the name to the first letter of every word, but we run into the problem where it’s complicated to type and not memorable. Find a middle ground, don’t make the user type out an essay to get to your website.

3. Avoid numbers and hypens

Generally, you want to avoid using numbers and hypens in a domain name since it makes branding more difficult. If you’re verbally telling someone to visit your website and it has a number in it, how will they know if they need to spell out the number or simply type the number? Websites that contain numbers and hypens are generally less memorable and look less professional than websites without number and hyphens. You’re not in math class, so leave out the numbers.

4. Use an appropriate extension

The most common domain name extension is the .com extension. Since it’s so common, it’ll be the default extension people type in if they don’t know exactly what extension a site has. They’ll just assume it ends in a .com. However, since it is so popular, that means a lot of domain names will have a .com extension and it’s very likely your domain name will be taken with a .com. When you use www.namecheap.com, it will provide a list of domain name extensions that you can use in place of .com. When choosing an extension, make sure it fits in with your name and branding. For example, if I’m looking to register a domain name for a website that offers coupons to healthy and organic local markets, it’d be pretty inappropriate to use the domain name naturalsavings.ninja. (Yes, .ninja is a real extension).

5. Keep it consistent

When creating a brand, you’re not only going to have your own website. You’re going to want to have a presence on social media. Using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other social media sites are a great marketing tool and a way to connect with your users. Keeping your domain name/username consistent across all of your sites makes it easy for users to find you. When you’re thinking of a domain name, you also want to check the availibility of that name on various social media sites. You can use sites such as namecheckr.com and namechk.com to see if a given name is available across various social media platforms. Those sites will even check the availability of your name with common domain name extensions.