Your domain name can be thought of as two things:

1. It can be compared to your business address where customers come to see you. But more importantly it is your internet identity.

2. Your domain name is the way people will remember you by. Since no two parties can ever hold the same domain name simultaneously, your internet identity is totally unique.

A domain name will give you a unique identity on the Internet. In some ways, a domain name is similar to a customized license plate. Many organization find it useful to have an e-mail or Web address that is similar to their company name or to their company product(s).

If your organization's name is Example, Inc., you could register the domain name EXAMPLE.COM and your e-mail address could be user_name@example.com. Your customers would also be able to access your organization's Web site by visiting "www.example.com" with their Web browser.

Web hosting is like internet real estate. If you want to build a house, you need a place to build it and roads wide enough to handle the traffic to get to it. Similarly, if you want to build a website, you need server space to store your files and bandwidth to access your site. Here are some terms you might find helpful in understanding web host.