What is a domain? Is a domain a website or just an email address?

A domain is an 'area' of the internet owned by an individual or a business. It consists of a name, a dot, and a code for the issuing area or genre, so for example:

domain.com

domain.co.uk

domain.biz

domain.me.uk

Entering these won't produce a result unless a website or email have been set up. A website will show as page or directory names (the domain being the top directory) signified by a slash, e.g.

domain.com/homepage.html

domain.com/notes/webpage.html

Web pages or directory are normally preceded by http:// to indicate the standard format of the page, or https:// to indicate a secure site (requiring your browser to have a certificate, normally provided automatically).

An email address can be set up using anything you like to start with, using the format

email@domain.com

myname@domain.com

Domains vary in price but the basic ones are quite cheap. However the most obvious names have already been taken, so if your name is Fred (or Smith) you're out of luck - the same applies to common surnames. (Having an unusual name I'm lucky with wilmut.uk.)

You can purchase a domain on a 2-year basis from any one of a nunber of suppliers, some also provide email and website hosting and even website construction facilities.