Domain Name Searches: A User's Guide
Look at the address bar on the top of your screen. If you
use Internet Explorer, it will look something like this:

If you use Netscape, it will look something like this:

What does URL mean:
The URL (Uniform Resource Locator), for example, in the
address bar above, the URL is http://www.search-engines.links.ws
This is how almost all websites are found on the Internet.
The URL is made up of several pieces (colored differently fo
highlight the different sections):
- http:// -
tells you that this is a standard web page.
- www -
is the standard default sub-domain. Sometimes, this is not
needed.
- search-engines -
is a non-standard sub-domain. You know this is not part of
the domain name, because it is followed by a period (dot).
Another example of this kind of sub-domain is http://search.msn.com
where the "search" is a subdomain of the domain name
"msn.com".
- links.ws - This
is the Domain Name. In the example just above, MSN.com is
the domain name. You may notice that Links.ws ends in
".ws" and MSN.com ends in ".com" These
are two of MANY endings called TLD (Top Level Domains).
- Country code - United States TLDs do not use a country
code. Others like www.domainname.com.au or www.domainname.com.uk
are used for businesses in Australia (.au) and the United
Kingdom (.uk). Other country codes are listed below.
Cool Search Tips
Helpful Links:
- For almost all big companies, you can type the name of the
company right in the address bar. For example, if you are
trying to find McDonald's website, try just typing http://www.mcdonalds.com
in your address bar. Hit your enter key and you should see
Disney's website. Notice that you cannot enter any apostrophes
or other special characters. Domain names are only made up
of letters, numbers, dashes and underscores. So McDonalds
cannot use their apostrophe and Yahoo! cannot use their
exclamation point.
- To see a list of TLD's (Top Level Domains) and their intended
uses, go to http://www.icann.org/tlds/.
Notice that this is a short list of some of the more common
TLD's. A longer list of TLD's, including country TLD's
(like ".uk" for the United Kingdom and ".ca"
for Canada, can be seen here: See Country
Codes for Domain names.
- Once you know a company's domain name, you can usually look it
up at www.DNSstuff.com
under the "Whois Lookup" in column 1. You can
also look up and register domain names at www.OnDomains.com.
Try a look-up of a domain name you know to see what you can
learn!
- You can also look up Expired
Domain Names and sometimes get some really good ones that
owners have failed to renew on time. Be careful! If
you think you're being smart by registering a name of a company
that is not your own company name in the hope of selling it to
them, you will get to learn about Trademark
Rules and may find that you have broken the Anti-CyberSquatting
Laws. This could be a VERY expensive mistake, so do
your homework before you buy. You are generally safe with
common names, like good-food.com or thebeststore.com.
Notice that dashes are allowed!
.ac – Ascension Island
.ad – Andorra
.ae – United Arab Emirates
.af – Afghanistan
.ag – Antigua and Barbuda
.ai – Anguilla
.al – Albania
.am – Armenia
.an – Netherlands Antilles
.ao – Angola
.aq – Antarctica
.ar – Argentina
.as – American Samoa
.at – Austria
.au – Australia
.aw – Aruba
.az – Azerbaijan
.ba – Bosnia and Herzegovina
.bb – Barbados
.bd – Bangladesh
.be – Belgium
.bf – Burkina Faso
.bg – Bulgaria
.bh – Bahrain
.bi – Burundi
.bj – Benin
.bm – Bermuda
.bn – Brunei Darussalam
.bo – Bolivia
.br – Brazil
.bs – Bahamas
.bt – Bhutan
.bv – Bouvet Island
.bw – Botswana
.by – Belarus
.bz – Belize
.ca – Canada
.cc – Cocos (Keeling) Islands
.cd – Congo, Democratic Republic of the
.cf – Central African Republic
.cg – Congo, Republic of
.ch – Switzerland
.ci – Cote d'Ivoire
.ck – Cook Islands
.cl – Chile
.cm – Cameroon
.cn – China
.co – Colombia
.cr – Costa Rica
.cu – Cuba
.cv – Cap Verde
.cx – Christmas Island
.cy – Cyprus
.cz – Czech Republic
.de – Germany
.dj – Djibouti
.dk – Denmark
.dm – Dominica
.do – Dominican Republic
.dz – Algeria
ec – Ecuador
.ee – Estonia
.eg – Egypt
.eh – Western Sahara
.er – Eritrea
.es – Spain
.et – Ethiopia
.eu – European Union
.fi – Finland
.fj – Fiji
.fk – Falkland Islands (Malvina)
.fm – Micronesia, Federal State of
.fo – Faroe Islands
.fr – France
.ga – Gabon
.gd – Grenada
.ge – Georgia
.gf – French Guiana
.gg – Guernsey
.gh – Ghana
.gi – Gibraltar
.gl – Greenland
.gm – Gambia
.gn – Guinea |
.gp – Guadeloupe
.gq – Equatorial Guinea
.gr – Greece
.gs – South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
.gt – Guatemala
.gu – Guam
.gw – Guinea-Bissau
.gy – Guyana
..hk – Hong Kong
.hm – Heard and McDonald Islands
.hn – Honduras
.hr – Croatia/Hrvatska
.ht – Haiti
.hu – Hungary
.id – Indonesia
.ie – Ireland
.il – Israel
.im – Isle of Man
.in – India
.io – British Indian Ocean Territory
.iq – Iraq
.ir – Iran (Islamic Republic of)
.is – Iceland
.it – Italy
.je – Jersey
.jm – Jamaica
.jo – Jordan
.jp – Japan
.ke – Kenya
.kg – Kyrgyzstan
.kh – Cambodia
.ki – Kiribati
.km – Comoros
.kn – Saint Kitts and Nevis
.kp – Korea, Democratic People's Republic
.kr – Korea, Republic of
.kw – Kuwait
.ky – Cayman Islands
.kz – Kazakhstan
.la – Lao People's Democratic Republic
.lb – Lebanon
.lc – Saint Lucia
.li – Liechtenstein
.lk – Sri Lanka
.lr – Liberia
.ls – Lesotho
.lt – Lithuania
.lu – Luxembourg
.lv – Latvia
.ly – Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
.ma – Morocco
.mc – Monaco
.md – Moldova, Republic of
.mg – Madagascar
.mh – Marshall Islands
.mk – Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Republic
.ml – Mali
.mm – Myanmar
.mn – Mongolia
.mo – Macau
.mp – Northern Mariana Islands
.mq – Martinique
.mr – Mauritania
.ms – Montserrat
.mt – Malta
.mu – Mauritius
.mv – Maldives
.mw – Malawi
.mx – Mexico
.my – Malaysia
.mz – Mozambique
.na – Namibia
.nc – New Caledonia
.ne – Niger
.nf – Norfolk Island
.ng – Nigeria
.ni – Nicaragua
.nl – Netherlands
.no – Norway
.np – Nepal |
.nr – Nauru
.nu – Niue
.nz – New Zealand
.om – Oman
.pa – Panama
.pe – Peru
.pf – French Polynesia
.pg – Papua New Guinea
.ph – Philippines
.pk – Pakistan
.pl – Poland
.pm – St. Pierre and Miquelon
.pn – Pitcairn Island
.pr – Puerto Rico
.ps – Palestinian Territories
.pt – Portugal
.pw – Palau
.py – Paraguay
.qa – Qatar
.re – Reunion Island
.ro – Romania
.ru – Russian Federation
.rw – Rwanda
.sa – Saudi Arabia
.sb – Solomon Islands
.sc – Seychelles
.sd – Sudan
.se – Sweden
.sg – Singapore
.sh – St. Helena
.si – Slovenia
.sj – Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands
.sk – Slovak Republic
.sl – Sierra Leone
.sm – San Marino
.sn – Senegal
.so – Somalia
.sr – Suriname
.st – Sao Tome and Principe
.sv – El Salvador
.sy – Syrian Arab Republic
.sz – Swaziland
.tc – Turks and Caicos Islands
.td – Chad
.tf – French Southern Territories
.tg – Togo
.th – Thailand
.tj – Tajikistan
.tk – Tokelau
.tm – Turkmenistan
.tn – Tunisia
.to – Tonga
.tp – East Timor
.tr – Turkey
.tt – Trinidad and Tobago
.tv – Tuvalu
.tw – Taiwan
tz – Tanzania
.ua – Ukraine
.ug – Uganda
.uk – United Kingdom
.um – US Minor Outlying Islands
.us – United States
.uy – Uruguay
.uz – Uzbekistan
.va – Holy See (City Vatican State)
.vc – Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
.ve – Venezuela
.vg – Virgin Islands (British)
.vi – Virgin Islands (USA)
.vn – Vietnam
.vu – Vanuatu
.wf – Wallis and Futuna Islands
.ws – Western Samoa
.ye – Yemen
.yt – Mayotte
.yu – Yugoslavia
.za – South Africa
.zm – Zambia
.zw – Zimbabwe |
Need Help?
We would be glad to help you; simply contact us via our web site,
Contact Us.
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