Here’s a more detailed explanation about Domain Names:

What’s the deal with Domain Names?

A domain name is what you type in the browser’s address bar (this is different from a search engine) to go to a specific website. For example, our domain name is: http://www.creativesociety.net (in today’s browsers, it is not necessary to type the symbols http:// any more). A domain name provides a unique online address or contact location for your website. In most cases, every transaction that happens online requires a domain name in order to be executed. (ie. commerce, display web pages or deliver e-mail just to name a few)

Tell me why Domain Names were created..

Websites are located (or hosted) in computer servers; this is kind of like the land where a house is built. The location of a website in a server is defined by a set of numbers, also known as the IP address (for example: 64.288.35.122). However, this would  be difficult to remember;  it kinda reminds us a of phone numbers: wouldn’t it be easier to just dial S-O-M-E-N-A-M-E instead of having to remember phone numbers?

The creators of the Internet considered this, and domain names were created. Domain names act like an address forwarding service that directs users to the server, and then looks for the IP address that corresponds to the domain name (geeks say it like this: “the domain name resolves to its IP address”).

Domain Names Conclusion..

Hopefully, this also clears up any questions you may have about domain names, hosting and the differences between them. Over the years, We’ve let several domain names lapse. This makes them available to someone else. It’s highly important you keep your domains registered in order to avoid loosing their accessibility.

You can pay for these by the year or years. We know many people that pay for up to 20 years in advance. You can also set your accounts to auto renew every year. This is typically how we setup our domain name accounts.