Basic explanation

Domain names comprise the web address used to access a website. For example, within the address http://www.thewebconsole.com/, "thewebconsole.com" is the domain name.

Domain names come in a variety of extensions (also known as Top Level Domains or TLDs for short). TLDs form the end part of your domain, and could include .com, .net, .org, .biz, .info, .us, .com.au, .net.au, .org.au, .asn.au and .id.au.

Extended explanation

A domain name, also known as a web address, is actually an alias associated to an IP address.

An IP address consists of numbers which together form the location of a particular website located on a server connected to the Internet.

They work in similar fashion to phone numbers that get designated to phone lines. The reason why domain names were implemented is because they offer branding and are much easier to remember.

For example, it is much easier to remember and type in 'thewebconsole.com' than an IP address consisting of numbers such as '12.343.422.243'.