Valid domain names
Domain names are required to meet certain strict naming requirements. Although there are efforts underway to allow domain names with non-latin alphabets (for example, Greek, Chinese, or Hebrew) currently most systems do not allow such names.
Domain Name Limitations
Domain names must only use the letters a to z, the numbers 0 to 9, and the hyphen (-) character. If the hyphen character is used in a domain name, it cannot be the first character in the name. For example, -example.com would not be allowed, but ex-ample.com would be.
Each part of a domain name must follow these restrictions - a domain name x.y.z.co.uk would have to ensure that the x, y, z, co, and uk portions of the domain name all follow these rules. In addition, the entire domain name, including the TLD, can only be a maximum of 67 characters. This includes the periods between each label - www.example.com is 15 characters long.
Naming Guidelines
In general, each part of a domain should be as self-explanatory as possible. A short, informative, easy-to-remember domain name will go far in ensuring that your website is memorable. In addition, it is often a good idea to break up logical portions of your website onto subdomains of a main domain. A great example of this is Google - they have their mail service on mail.google.com, their mapping service on maps.google.com, and so on.
Top Level Domains
More information about top level domains can be found here.
| Common Unrestricted TLDs | ||
|---|---|---|
| TLD | Original use | Comments on current use |
| .com | Commercial organizations | The most sought-after TLD. Very hard to find useful, short unregistered domain names under .com |
| .net | Network infrastructure | Used by some ISPs |
| .org | Other organizations | Commonly associated with non-profit or non-commercial organizations, such as residential committees, volunteer groups, etc. |
| .biz | Businesses | A new TLD - created in 2001. Although targeted at business, most businesses prefer .com addresses, but .biz is gaining popularity |
| .name | Individuals, families | A new TLD, created in 2001. Still pretty uncommon, but chances are good that your name is available for registration |
| .info | Information sites | A new TLD, created in 2001. The most popular of the new set of TLDs, and often used for its intended purpose. |
| Restricted TLDs (not a complete list) | ||
| .edu | Educational institutions | Still restricted to schools, primarily post-secondary accredited US institutions. |
| .gov | Federal Government entities | Restricted to US Government. Now includes state and local government entities. |
Choosing an appropriate top level domain (TLD) can make your domain name much more memorable. Although many people want to get a .com domain name, a well-thought out .org or .net name can be more memorable, and easier to secure, than a .com name. For example, which is easier to remember - ex4mple-4432.com or example.biz? There is so much competition for .com names that most of the "good" names are already taken.
Through Bravenet you can register for any of the unrestricted TLDs listed above; in addition, you can use domain names registered elsewhere for your Bravenet websites, or transfer your domain to our registrar.