Every web site has a distinct location (like a phone number), called an IP (Internet Protocol) address, which consists of a string of numbers and dots. Instead of having to remember an IP address every time you want to visit a web site, domain names were created. A domain name merely substitutes for the IP address on the server, and is usually similar to the name of an, organization, company name, or a product.

If your organization's name is Contoh, Inc., you might want to register the domain name ORTHOM.COM. The email addresses for your employees could be user_name@orthom.com, and your customers would access your web site by visiting "www.orthom" with their Web browser. Or even in a good webhosting company, you don't have to write the "www" in front of your domain. It means also, if you have a good browser, with dotcom (*.com) domain, you only write the name of the domain [orthom], without mentioning dotcom anymore.

Every Top Level Domain (TLD) has a suffix that specifies the type of company that is hosting the site, such as: com - commercial businesses net - network organizations edu - educational institutions org - nonprofit organizations gov - government agencies mil - military A domain name can be up to 26 characters long including the 4 character suffix (.net, .com, .org, or .edu).