What is a domain name?

A domain name is a human-readable address used to access websites, translating to an IP address through the Domain Name System.

What is a domain name?

A domain name is a string of text that maps to a numeric IP address, used to access a website from client software. In plain English, a domain name is the text that a user types into a browser window to reach a particular website. For instance, the domain name for Cloudflare is 'cloudflare.com'.

Domain name structure

Domain names are composed of multiple parts, separated by dots:

  • Top-Level Domain (TLD): The rightmost part (.com, .org, .net)
  • Second-Level Domain (SLD): The name directly left of the TLD (e.g., "cloudflare" in cloudflare.com)
  • Subdomain: Optional prefix like "www" or "blog"

How domain names work

When a user enters a domain name in their browser, DNS servers translate it into the corresponding IP address, allowing the browser to connect to the web server hosting that website.