Why do I have to register a domain name?

Registration of a domain

Domain names must be registered in order for the domain (and website) to be accessible by people around the world. Website names, such as www.ewisdom.com, are not what is used by computers to locate a website.

The name that you type in when you visit a website is translated into a series of numbers that is the real location of the website. The computer then uses that series of numbers to locate the server that the website is on and display it to you.

In order for someone to broadcast a website to the world, both the series of number that identifies the site has to be chosen, and a name has to be assigned to those numbers, so that when people type in the name of the site, they are directed to the correct one.

Registering a domain is a relatively straightforward process and can be done at a number of different domain registrars online. For a yearly fee, you can register the domain and own the rights to that domain. You must continue paying the yearly fee to retain the rights to that domain. Prices vary from registrar to registrar.