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Things you need to know about Domains

Jump to DNS Records

Domain Names:

What are domain names?

The domain name is essentially the IP address of where your website is located.

Are domain names case-sensitive?

No, a domain name is not case sensitive, it does not matter if you put it as an uppercase or a lowercase, however, everything after the domain is case sensitive as it represents the directory of where the content you are looking for is located.

Are domain name and URL the same thing?

A URL contains multiple sections and one of them is the domain name.

An example for a URL is https://shabaqo.com/website-design/

  • 1st part (https://): is called a protocol, and the protocol that is being used in this case is called https (hypertext transfer protocol) It is used for secure communication over a computer network.
  • 2nd part (shabaqo.com): is the domain in use for this URL.
  • 3rd part (website design): a directory or in other words a slug

What is a registrar?

Registrars are basically the organizations that manage a specific extension.

Who is ICANN?

ICANN stands for International Company of Assigning Numbers and Names; it is a non-profit organization that manages the assignment of IP Addresses and Domain names to other organizations or governmental entities.

Are domain names free?

No, the domain names are not free, you can find out more about the domain prices here.

Are domain names secure?

When you first buy a domain name it will not be secured by default, you can add security to it such as DNSSec, and Whois privacy to secure your information and DNS records, however, your admin panel is secured by default with Shabaqo.

Should you need to add security to your domain names, please contact Shabaqo support team.

What are domain name servers?

Domain name services (DNS) is the application service that translates the IP address into a more recognized and memorable name, for example when you are searching for a website such as shabaqo.com, your browser will communicate with the nearest authoritative server to its location to provide the IP address of the server where the domain shabaqo.com is being hosted in order for the browser to load the website from shabaqo’s server, the application that serve this purpose is called DNS.

Can a domain name be changed?

You can not change the domain name once you register it, however you can register a new one.

Should you need help choosing your domain name, check out the article here!

Or alternatively, contact Shabaqo advisors to help you choose your perfect domain.

Can a domain name start with a number?

Yes, you can include numbers on your domain name.

Can a domain name contain an underscore?

No, a domain name cannot contain an underscore or special characters.

Can domain names have numbers?

Yes, you can include numbers in your domain name.

Can domain names have special characters?

No, a domain name cannot have a special character.

Can the domain name and website name be different?

Yes, your domain name can be different from your website name, however, it is not recommended unless it is needed as this will create confusion for your website visitor.

How domain name system works?

A DNS or Domain Name System is like an address book of the internet, when you search for a specific website on the internet and you type the website domain name in the URL, you actually reach that server through its IP address and not the domain name, what happens is that your browser send a request to the nearest authoritative server to obtain the IP address of the server that hosts the website you are looking for, and the DNS should translate this request from a name to an IP address to be able to load the resources of this website.

How domain name is translated to an IP Address?

Using the DNS records (Domain Name Service Records) and specifically a record called A record.

What domain name should I use?

We recommend using your company name or project name you are working on, however, if the company name or the project you are working on has a long name, you can shorten it to one word to make it easier for your customer to remember your domain name or website.

There are multiple methods you can use to make your domain name as short as possible to be remembered, check out this article to give you a kick start on how to choose the perfect domain and learn these methods on how to make it short and memorable!

What is a domain extension?

A domain extension is whatever comes after the “.” Symbol, for example, the domain name “shabaqo.com”, the domain extension, in this case, is “com”.

What domain name extensions are available?

There are over 1500 domain extensions currently available, here is an article for you to help you with this!

Which domain name is best?

It depends on the business relativity and where it is established, however, all domains are the same, they are just under different registrars and have different “flavors”.

Which domain name is best for SEO?

Domain names do not affect your SEO directly, however, it has an indirect effect on your website traffic, as statistics show that websites with odd domain extensions get fewer visitors hence your SEO ranking will be affected.

Need help with SEO for your website? Contact Shabaqo team!

Why domain name is important?

Domain names are used instead of IP Addresses to easily remember the location of your website, it is similar to having numbers on your phone address book instead of names, it will be hard to remember!

Will changing domain names affect SEO?

Yes, it can affect your SEO, as the search engine will need to reindex your website as it has a different name now.

When will the domain name expire?

Each domain has a validity depending on the number of years you purchased it or subscribed to it, the subscriptions to domain names are usually from 1 up to 10 years depending on the registrar or the domain name you subscribed to.

Does domain transfer affect SEO?

Yes, this can impact your SEO, similar to changing the domain name.

Can a domain name be considered a trademark?

Technically yes, as people will associate your domain/website name with your brand name.

Domain names can be categorized into?

Mainly there are 3 categories of domain names:

  1. ccTLD (Country Code Top-Level Domain)
  2. gTLD (Generic Top-Level Domain)
  3. nTLD (New Top-Level Domain)

You can find out more about domain names in the article here!

DNS Records:

What are DNS records?

DNS stands for Domain Name Service which is also known as Zone Files; it holds information and instructions about the domain name such as what IP Address is associated with this domain name or subdomain, it consists of a series of text files written in what is called a DNS syntax.

How do I point my domain to my website?

Using a DNS record called an A record.

What is an A record?

An A record is a type of DNS record that holds the information of the IP Address (IPv4) that is associated with that specific domain or subdomain.

How to configure A record on cPanel?

You can follow the below steps to configure you’re A record:

  • On your cPanel Dashboard, go to the “Domains” section.
  • Click on “Zone Editor”.
  • A new window will open that has a list of the domain names that you have in your control panel.
  • On the “Action” section from the domain list, select the option “+ A Record” next to the domain name that you want to add the A record to.
  • A new popup window will show which has two sections labeled as “Name” and “Address”.
  • If you would like to add you’re A record in a new subdomain, fill in the subdomain name in the “Name” section, if not you can leave it blank.
  • Add the IP Address that you would like to associate with your domain name or subdomain and click on “Add An A Record”.

What is MX record and what is the use of it?

MX records stand for Mail Exchange Record, it holds the information of your mail server or servers.

How do you configure the MX record on cPanel?

You can follow the below steps to configure your MX record:

  • On your cPanel Dashboard, go to the “Domains” section.
  • Click on “Zone Editor”.
  • A new window will open that has a list of the domain names that you have in your control panel.
  • On the “Action” section from the domain list, select the option “+ MX Record” next to the domain name that you want to add the A record to.
  • A new popup window will show which has two sections labeled as “Priority” and “Destination”.
  • A Priority is important only if you have more than one MX record to give instructions to other exchange servers to prioritize an exchange server over another, if you have one exchange server, you can simply put the priority as 1 for example.
  • Enter the mail exchange server on the “Destination” tab and click on “Add An MX Record”.

What is a TXT record and what is it used for?

A TXT Record is a text-based record, it is mostly used to authenticate your domain name or your ownership of the domain.

The most common use of a TXT record is to authenticate your ownership when you subscribe to a new service related to your domain, such as Google services, or configure an SSL certificate.

How to configure a TXT record on cPanel?

You can follow the below steps to configure your TXT record on cPanel:

  • On your cPanel Dashboard, go to the “Domains” section.
  • Click on “Zone Editor”.
  • A new window will open that has a list of the domain names that you have in your control panel.
  • On the “Action” section, click on Manage next to the domain name to which you would like to add the TXT record.
  • A new window will show with all the records for the selected domain, click on “+ Add Record”.
  • You will see a new entry on the domain records that have been created, select “TXT” on the type section of that newly created record.
  • Enter the subdomain details if you want to associate this TXT record with a specific subdomain on the “Name” Section or leave it as blank if you want it to be on your main domain.
  • If you would like to specify a TTL Value (Time To-Live Value), you can enter it in the section where it says “TTL”, or leave it on the default of (14400).
  • Add the TXT Value in the section “Record” and click on “Save Record”.

What is a subdomain?

A subdomain is an additional part of your main domain name, it can be used to organize the sections of your website.

How do you configure a subdomain on cPanel?

You can follow the below steps to configure your subdomain:

  • On your cPanel Dashboard, go to the “Domains” section.
  • Click on “Zone Editor”.
  • A new window will open that has a list of the domain names that you have in your control panel.
  • On the “Action” section from the domain list, select the option “+ A Record” next to the domain name that you want to add the A record to.
  • A new popup window will show which has two sections labeled as “Name” and “Address”.
  • Fill in the subdomain details on the “Name” section.
  • Add the IP Address that you would like to associate with your subdomain on the “Address” section and click on “Add An A Record”.

What is CNAME record and what is used for?

CNAME Record also known as Canonical Name record, is used to create an alias from one domain name to another.

How to configure CNAME records on your cPanel?

You can follow the below steps to configure you’re CNAME record on cPanel:

  • On your cPanel Dashboard, go to the “Domains” section.
  • Click on “Zone Editor”.
  • A new window will open that has a list of the domain names that you have in your control panel.
  • On the “Action” section, click on Manage next to the domain name that you would like to add to the CNAME record.
  • A new window will show with all the records for the selected domain, click on “+ Add Record”.
  • You will see a new entry on the domain records that have been created, select “CNAME” on the type section of that newly created record.
  • If you would like to specify a TTL Value (Time To-Live Value), you can enter it in the section where it says “TTL”, or leave it on the default of (14400).
  • If you would like to associate the CNAME record with a subdomain fill in the subdomain details in the “Name” Section, or leave it as blank if you would like to configure it on your main domain.
  • Fill in the canonicalized domain name (Fully qualified domain name) in the “Records” section and click on “Save Record”.

What is SRV record?

SRV Record also known as the Service record specifies a host and a port number for a specific service such as VoIP (Voice over IP).

How to configure SRV record on cPanel?

You can follow the below steps to configure your SRV record on cPanel:

  • On your cPanel Dashboard, go to the “Domains” section.
  • Click on “Zone Editor”.
  • A new window will open that has a list of the domain names that you have in your control panel.
  • On the “Action” section, click on Manage next to the domain name to which you would like to add the CNAME record.
  • A new window will show with all the records for the selected domain, click on “+ Add Record”.
  • You will see a new entry on the domain records that have been created, select “SRV” on the type section of that newly created record.
  • If you would like to associate the SRV record with a subdomain fill in the subdomain details in the “Name” Section, or leave it as blank if you would like to configure it on your main domain.
  • If you would like to specify a TTL Value (Time To-Live Value), you can enter it in the section where it says “TTL”, or leave it on the default of (14400).
  • On the “Record” section enter the value of your SRV record and click on “Save Record”

What is AAAA record?

AAAA Record which is also known as Quadra A record; is similar to the A record however it is being used if you are using an IP Version 6 (IPv6) for your server.

How to configure AAAA record on cPanel?

You can follow the below steps to configure your AAAA record on cPanel:

  • On your cPanel Dashboard, go to the “Domains” section.
  • Click on “Zone Editor”.
  • A new window will open that has a list of the domain names that you have in your control panel.
  • On the “Action” section, click on Manage next to the domain name that you would like to add to the AAAA record.
  • A new window will show with all the records for the selected domain, click on “+ Add Record”.
  • You will see a new entry on the domain records that have been created, select “AAAA” on the type section of that newly created record.
  • If you would like to associate the AAAA record with a subdomain fill in the subdomain details in the “Name” Section, or leave it as blank if you would like to configure it on your main domain.
  • If you would like to specify a TTL Value (Time To-Live Value), you can enter it in the section where it says “TTL”, or leave it on the default of (14400).
  • Enter the IPv6 details in the “Record” section and click on “Save Record”.

What is CAA record?

CAA Record also known as a Certification Authority Authorization record; is used to declare which certificate authorities are allowed to issue a domain certificate for this particular domain.

How to configure CAA record on cPanel?

You can follow the below steps to configure your CAA record on cPanel:

  • On your cPanel Dashboard, go to the “Domains” section.
  • Click on “Zone Editor”.
  • A new window will open that has a list of the domain names that you have in your control panel.
  • On the “Action” section, click on Manage next to the domain name to which you would like to add the CAA record.
  • A new window will show with all the records for the selected domain, click on “+ Add Record”.
  • You will see a new entry on the domain records that have been created, select “CAA” on the type section of that newly created record.
  • If you would like to associate the CAA record with a subdomain fill in the subdomain details in the “Name” Section, or leave it as blank if you would like to configure it on your main domain.
  • If you would like to specify a TTL Value (Time To-Live Value), you can enter it in the section where it says “TTL”, or leave it on the default of (14400).
  • There are three values under the “Record” section:

Value 1- Issuer Critical Flag: if “1” the certificate issuer must understand the tag in order to correctly process the CAA record, if “0” is the opposite.

Value 1- Tag: the type of CAA record that this DNS entry represents and it has three values:

  • issue: explicitly authorizes a single certificate authority to issue a certificate (any type) for the hostname.
  • issuewild: explicitly authorizes a single certificate authority to issue a wildcard certificate (and only wildcard) for the hostname.
  • iodef: specifies a URL to which a certificate authority may report policy violations to.

Value 3- Value: is the value of your CAA record.

  • Once you fill and select the required details, click on “Save Record”.

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