Knowledgebase
Domain Name Basics
What a domain name is, how it’s structured, and how domain registration actually works under the hood.
What is a domain name?
A domain name is the human-readable address people type or click to reach a website or send email to — namebright.com, for instance — standing in for the…
Anatomy of a domain name
Take help.namebright.com apart, left to right: `help` — a subdomain. Optional, and there can be more than one (a.b.namebright.com is valid). Subdomains…
What is a TLD?
A top-level domain (TLD) is the suffix at the end of a domain name — .com, .net, .org, .io, and hundreds of others. Every TLD is operated by a registry, a…
gTLD vs. ccTLD vs. new TLD, explained
TLDs fall into a few broad categories: Generic TLDs (gTLDs) — not tied to any country, open in principle to registrants worldwide. .com, .net, and .org…
What is a premium domain?
A premium domain is one priced well above standard registration cost, because it's short, memorable, made of a common dictionary word, or otherwise…
Domain vs. website vs. hosting: what's the difference?
These three get conflated constantly, and they're genuinely separate things: A domain name is the address: what you register, what you renew, what points…
How domain registration actually works
Three parties make domain registration work: ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) sets the overall policy rules for how domain…
Still need help?
Real people, real answers
Our support team is available Mon–Fri, 8am–5pm Mountain Time. For urgent issues outside business hours, submit a ticket and we'll respond first thing.
Contact Support