Domain guides

What is a domain name? A practical explanation of domain names, DNS, web hosting and the parts of an address, with examples that show what you actually register. Read the guide → Who manages internet domains? See how ICANN, IANA, registries and registrars divide responsibility, and find the organisation to contact when a domain problem occurs. Read the guide → Registry, registrar and registrant Learn the difference between a domain registry, a registrar and the registrant, with practical examples involving renewals, transfers and account ownership. Read the guide → How does DNS work? Follow a DNS lookup from browser to authoritative server and understand A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, name servers, TTL values and propagation. Read the guide → How to choose and protect a domain A practical process for choosing a memorable domain, checking brand conflicts, comparing renewal prices and securing the registrar account. Read the guide → Why country domains follow different rules See why .de, .uk, .pl and .eu use different eligibility, transfer and expiry procedures, with examples from their official registries. Read the guide → Country domain or .com? Choose between a national domain and .com by comparing customer expectations, search targeting, expansion plans, costs and operational workload. Read the guide → Who can register a country-code domain? Learn who can register a country-code domain, how .de, .eu and .ca eligibility differs, and what evidence registries may request. Read the guide → One global site or separate country domains? Plan an international domain architecture by comparing one global platform with a ccTLD portfolio, including ownership, release and migration controls. Read the guide → Does a country domain help with local SEO? How ccTLDs signal a target country to search engines, where exceptions apply, and what a genuinely useful local website still needs. Read the guide → Domains with accented and non-Latin characters How addresses with ą, ü or Cyrillic letters work under the hood, what they cost, and the practical problems worth checking before you register one. Read the guide → RDAP, WHOIS or DNS: which answer to trust Three ways of checking whether a domain is free sometimes give three different answers. Here is which one is binding and which extensions cannot give you certainty at all. Read the guide → Protecting a brand with domains, without overspending How to choose defensive registrations sensibly, what a dozen names really cost over five years, and what to do when somebody registered your brand first. Read the guide → Why some countries register names at .co.uk or .com.pl How second-level namespaces work, what separates example.uk from example.co.uk, and when it is worth registering both. Read the guide → What .io, .ai, .tv and .me really cost Country extensions used as industry branding: where they come from, how their renewal fees compare with ordinary country domains, and the risk you accept by building on one. Read the guide → Available, but not for sale Why a search tool shows a name as free while registration fails: registry-reserved names, premium pricing, and results that are simply out of date. Read the guide → What happens when a domain expires Why the familiar thirty-day grace period is a myth for country domains, what the stages after expiry actually are, and how to avoid losing a name to a missed invoice. Read the guide → Moving a domain to another registrar How a country domain transfer works, what you need before you start, what it costs and how to keep your website and email running throughout. Read the guide → Registering a domain with no website A domain is not a website and not an email account. What you actually get, when the name alone is enough, and why a parked domain can look available to other tools. Read the guide → When a country code stops meaning a country Why .tv has nothing to do with Tuvalu in a visitor’s mind, how search engines treat these extensions, and what it means when you are choosing an address. Read the guide → Five mistakes when registering a foreign domain What not to assume about an extension from another country: eligibility rules, deadlines, how availability is checked, and the cost that returns every year. Read the guide → .de domains: DENIC, and checking without RDAP Who runs the German registry, why a free result for .de is less certain than for .pl, and what the price looks like across five years. Read the guide → .uk domains: Nominet and two levels of the same name What separates example.uk from example.co.uk, who runs the British registry, what both versions cost and why availability checks here are reliable. Read the guide → .pl domains: NASK, namespaces and the renewal trap Who runs the Polish registry, why the second year costs several times the first, how com.pl differs from pl, and why availability answers for .pl are dependable. Read the guide → .fr domains: AFNIC and a price that stays flat Who may register a French domain, who runs the registry, what it costs to keep and why availability answers for .fr are dependable. Read the guide → .es domains: open registration, DNS-only checking Who runs the Spanish registry, why .es is among the cheaper Western European extensions and why availability results for it are indicative rather than final. Read the guide → .it domains: an EU eligibility rule and a flat fee Who may register an Italian domain, who runs the registry, what it costs across five years and why availability checks are indicative only. Read the guide → .nl domains: the cheapest of the Western European extensions Who runs the Dutch registry, why .nl costs the same to register and renew, and how its rate limits affect bulk availability checking. Read the guide → .cz domains: CZ.NIC and a renewal premium Who runs the Czech registry, why .cz is the most expensive extension to keep in Central Europe and how reliable its availability answers are. Read the guide → .eu domains: EURid and the condition that caught the British out Who may hold a .eu domain, why losing one without doing anything wrong is a real risk, and how to check availability when EURid publishes no RDAP. Read the guide → .com domains: Verisign as registry, ICANN as rulebook Why .com renewal pricing is flatter than a country domain, what shared ICANN rules give you, and when a global extension beats a local one. Read the guide → .ai domains: Anguilla’s two letters and the AI boom Where the demand for .ai came from, who operates the registry, why not every registrar sells it and what to check before making it your main address. Read the guide → .io domains: the most expensive of the popular extensions What .io actually costs, where its popularity among technology companies came from, and the risk you accept by building a brand on it. Read the guide → .tv domains: Tuvalu, video, and a fee to match Who operates the .tv registry, what it costs compared with ordinary country domains, whether it helps in search results and who it actually suits. Read the guide → .me domains: Montenegro and names that read as a sentence Where the popularity of .me came from, what it costs, why availability checks are indicative only and the kind of project it genuinely fits. Read the guide → .ua domains and their second-level namespaces How the Ukrainian domain system is organised, what separates .ua from com.ua, who runs the registry and how availability is checked. Read the guide →