▷Domain Name 🥇

Our video
Definition
Utility
Choose a domain name
Availability
Buy a domain name
File a .com
Redirect a domain name
Grabbing
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Definition

A website is defined by its URL. Thus, a site hosted by a free host (for example an Internet service provider) generally has an address of the type:

http://www.votre-fournisseur.com/votrenom

This type of address is quite difficult to remember, so an address like the following is preferable:

http://www.votrenom.com

Utility

A website with its own domain name is much easier to remember. Thus, a visitor will return more easily to a site whose name is easy to remember than to a site whose name is extremely complicated.

In addition, a well-chosen domain name will promote word of mouth and allow the site to gain popularity faster.

Finally, a domain name generally gives a touch of professionalism and credibility to a website, and causes Internet users to feel more confident.

Since the domain name must be easy to distribute, it is essential to choose it as simple as possible. It is obvious that a domain name is not just a complex list of characters, it must be chosen wisely while avoiding the following pitfalls:

choose complicated names
choose names that are too long
put special characters such as underscores (_) In addition the domain name must:

be pronounceable;
have meaning as much as possible;
be available.

Availability

There are tools (provided by the organizations in charge of domain names), called Whois, to check the availability of a domain name, or even to know its owner.

GANDI or Network Solutions for .com, .net, and .org
Ikoula
Afnic for .com

Buy a domain name

The domain name is registered with an international organization (the Internic) or with one of the sub-organizations called “registrars” (for Our country it is Afnic). The classification of the domain (according to the activity of the site (commercial, non-profit, network organization, ...)) sometimes called TLD (Top Level Domain, or higher-level domains), generally corresponds to a geographical distribution . However, there are names, created for the United States at the base, allowing to classify the domain according to the sector of activity, for example:

.barley corresponds to machines from the original network
.com corresponds to companies with a commercial vocation (now this domain code does not mean much and has become international)
. Edu corresponds to educational organizations
.gov matches government agencies
.one thousand corresponds to military organizations
. Net corresponds to organizations related to networks
. Org corresponds to non-profit companies

On the other hand, some of these domains have subdomains. For Our country for example:

.asso.com corresponds to associations
.gouv.com matches government agencies
.tm.com corresponds to registered trade organizations
etc.

File a .com

The opening of the domain name in the French zone (a site whose name ends with .com) is governed by more complicated acquisition rules. AFNIC, responsible for allocating .com domain names, only allows acquisition of them to entities that meet certain conditions. Here is a non-exhaustive list of these conditions:

hold a registered trademark;
be a company (companies) registered in the trade register;
be an association registered with INSEE;
liberal professions;
to be a craftsman;
be a public authority.

It is obviously necessary to have the documents justifying belonging to one of these categories:

For companies, an extract from Kbis and the SIREN / SIRET number;
For associations registered with INSEE, the SIREN / SIRET number;
For a registered trademark, a certificate from the INPI (National Institute of Intellectual Property), to be provided within 6 months if the request is in progress.

However, AFNIC is gradually liberalizing “.com”, so it is useful to regularly refer to their website for the latest conditions. Soon they will be able to acquire a .com domain name:

all the categories mentioned above;
the details ;
all associations, even not registered with INSEE.

Redirect a domain name

It is possible to opt for a redirection, that is to say a domain name redirecting the Internet user to a particular URL. This type of solution represents a compromise allowing webmasters using the services of a free host to benefit from a name that is easy to remember. However, this system does not allow the domain name to appear in the address bar of the browser.

Also pay attention to providers providing free domain name redirection because they thus become the owner of the domain name!

Grabbing

Some Internet users take great pleasure in buying a large number of domain names. This process, called grabbing consists in planning the purchase of domain names of certain companies and to buy them before these (the extensions in .com, .net and .org are for example not subjected to any control ...).

With this type of practice, unscrupulous people have managed in the past to resell interesting domain names for certain companies (generally their own brand) at a high price (several million dollars sometimes). Since then, the legislation in this area has hardened and it is rare for a court to agree with the cybersquatter.