Why Domain Names Are So Important

On a basic level, domain names are important because the Internet’s addressing scheme is not very effective without them. Each computer on the Internet has an Internet protocol (IP) address: a unique string of four numbers separated by periods, such as 165.166.0.2. Since remembering the IP addresses of all of your favorite Web sites would be nearly impossible, a group of computer scientists created the domain name system to assign a unique name to each numeric IP address. But domain names are much more than just a technical shortcut. A short, memorable domain name can make the difference between creating a successful Web presence and getting lost in cyberspace.