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Choosing a domain name for a new client is a difficult task. Domain names are the crux of a website’s existence. A bad name can create a negative impact on branding and the ability to strengthen the domain value. A good domain name is essentially priceless (tacky but true) in name, branding, ease of understanding, and catchiness.

This article piggybacks on another Smashing article but it stops short of domain extensions. Here, we are going to discuss generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs), country top level domains (ccTLDs), new and exciting domain extensions for 2009, domain hacks, and internationalized domains.

Learning this will make you even more of an awesome designer or developer for clients. You need to think of a variety of domains and possibilities for new sites, as well as uniquely branding corporate websites with domain extensions. Domain names are not a lackluster industry, it is a hidden industry that is vital to the success and maintenance of the Internet.

You may be interested in the following related posts:

• The Effective Strategy For Choosing Right Domain Names
• How To Improve Your Branding With Your Content
• Domain Names: Tools, Articles and Resources

1. Boring Stuff First: Short Background Information

The birth of Domains

In 1983 the Domain Name System (DNS) was invented so people did not have to remember a long string of funny numbers. DNS inherits its structure from an even older systems but it was with the birth of the DNS that we are able to type in letters instead of numbers.

When domain names become fashionable, domains owners needed to control the rights of their domain names, and an administrative authority was necessary. Fifteen years later ICANN saw the day of light and its governing purpose is to coordinate all the unique domain names on the web today.

Current use of domain extensions

Today there are a few groups of domain extensions: gTLDs, ccTLDs, and the personal domains. The most well-known generic Top-Level Domain (gTLD) is the .com, an international extension for everyone from large corporations to small personal websites. Being the most popular extension in the world, it is increasingly difficult to find a .com domain name. It has led to new and creative ways of setting up domain names. The .com will always be in demand but it is not as sought after than in the earlier years.

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