So, what DO all those letters and dots really mean when it comes to navigating the Internet? The Internet has its very own location system, unlike anything known on a normal mailing route. It's important to understand what's behind its unusual routing system when it comes to establishing your own location on this vast, endless highway of information.

www--what?
You'll notice every Internet address begins with "http//. It simply is an acronym for Hypertext Transfer Protocol, the standard for exchanging information, computer to computer, over the Internet.

The next set of letters you'll discover is "www," which simply tells you the site is part of the World Wide Web. In computer lingo, both the http//and www portion of a web site merge into one Universal Resource Locator, or URL.

Now for the middle...
The next set of words is referred to as your Domain name. Again, simply put, this is how people find you on the web because no one else will have your domain name. It usually looks something like this: http//www.yourchosenname.com.

Only 26 letters, numbers and hyphens can make up a domain name. Four of those 26 are referred to as domain extensions at the end of the name, called top-level domains; this is the '.com' portion of your web address.

Top level domains specify the origin of your domain name -- an organization, company or country. For-profit companies use ".com;" nonprofits use ".org;" and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) often use ".net."

There are other top-level domain extensions, like ".edu" for four-year, degree-granting educational institutions; ".gov" for government agencies or departments; and ".mil" for military branches, agencies or departments.

Who registers all these addresses?
There were more than 5, 135,000 domain names registered by early 1999. At first, the U.S. government took care of registering domain names, but the task grew into a tremendous burden. The government, in 1993, hired a private company called Network Solutions . They, along with National Science Foundation, formed InterNIC, now the official registrar of Internet addresses.

At the turn of the new millennium, the Internet has turned into big business! Domain names are carefully chosen because organizations want to take advantage of their popular trademark. They make their addresses easy to remember and establish a presence online.

The InterNIC is the watchdog over name disputes. It usually gives trademark holders the upperhand when it comes to establishing a web presence. That means if your last name is McDonald, don't count on using mcdonald.com. You'll have to think of something else to avoid trademark infringement.

Jump on the Net--It's Not That Hard!

Getting your own domain name on the Internet doesn't have to be difficult. The trick is to come up with a name that is easy to recall, and one that significantly relates to your organization and business. If your first choice is not available, be inventive about choosing another.

Taking a little time with this first step--choosing an easy-to-remember domain name--will bring you more patients and help your new website thrive.