Domains names and terminology explained

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Domains names and terminology explained

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A domain is the URL or web address where your customers go to find your store online. By default, your online store has a free domain name assigned when you sign up for Vooka such as www.example.com. Using a domain that matches your brand can helps you build trust in your online store.

After you add a domain to Vooka, you can view and manage your domain settings for your online store on the Domains page in your Vooka admin. To help you understand some of the terminology about domains, the following list contains definitions of common terms.

A record

An A record is a DNS setting that checks whether a domain name has a specific IP address associated with it. In this case, you want your A record to point to Vooka's IP address.

Other terms: Address record, host record

CAA record

A CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) record is used to specify which certificate authorities are allowed to issue certificates for a domain. A certificate authority (CA) is a trusted entity that issues electronic documents that verify a digital entity's identity on the Internet.

CNAME record

A CNAME record is a DNS setting that points your subdomains to another domain name. In this case, you want your CNAME record to point to your vooka-hosted domain.

Other terms: CNAME resource record, alias

DKIM record

Vooka uses the Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM) email authentication technique to sign emails with a digital signature. This allows the receiver to check that an email message was sent and authorized by the owner of that domain. Adding DKIM records to your DNS settings can help prevent notification emails from being flagged as spam.

DNS

Domain Name Systems (DNS) is a database of domain names. Every domain has its own DNS entry. Domain Name Systems organize domain names and translate them from words to numbers so you can visit a website without having to memorize its IP address. For example, the IP address for vooka.co.ke is 18.119.121.67. Typically, this process works quickly in the background. When you connect a third-party domain to your Vooka store, you might need to change your DNS settings.

Other terms: DNS records, DNS settings, resource records, DNS file zone

Domain name

A domain name is the address that people use to visit your website on the internet. Domain names appear in the address bar of your web browser and are linked to specific IP addresses.

Other terms: domain

Domain provider

A domain provider is a company that registers your domain name for you. Typically, you purchase a domain on a subscription basis and you pay a regular fee to your domain provider to keep using your domain name.

Other terms: domain registrar, domain host

HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS)

HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) is a web security mechanism that ensures that browsers only connect to your online store over a secure HTTPS connection. Using a secure connection prevents certain kinds of network attacks and helps ensure the safety of your information and your customers' information. HSTS is always active on your domain for as long as your domain is connected to your Vooka store.

An HSTS policy can be set on a domain for a fixed length of time. Vooka's default length is 90 days. If you remove a domain or leave Vooka entirely, then this policy remains in effect on your domain for an additional 90 days.

ICANN

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is an organization that governs and manages Domain Name Systems and other internet protocols.

International domain

An international domain is a URL that is specific to a country or region. You can use international domains to display your online store in the languages and currencies that are specific to certain countries or regions. 

Other terms: regional domain, regional subdomain

International targeting

International targeting lets you show the correct version of your store to local customers in a specific country or region. For example, if you sell only to customers in the United States, then you can set your store's target country to the United States. You can set a target country or region for each of your store's domains or subdomains in Google Search Console.

Other terms: geo-targeting

IP address

An IP address is a unique string of numbers that specifies the location of a computer or device on the internet and distinguishes it from other computers or devices. An IP address is required for one computer to communicate with other devices over the internet.

Other terms: Internet Protocol address

Subdomain

A subdomain is a subset of your root domain that you add as a prefix to your root domain. For example, in the URL marketplace.vokka.co.ke, vooka.co.ke is the root domain and marketplace. is the subdomain. You can use subdomains to organize your website and make it easier for visitors to find the information that they're looking for.

Time to Live

The Time to Live (TTL) value of your domain determines how frequently your DNS records are updated. All domain DNS records have a TTL value. For example, if a record has a TTL of 86400 seconds, then it takes up to 24 hours to go into effect. Changing a record's TTL affects how long it takes any subsequent change to happen.

Top-level and second-level domains

The top-level domain (TLD) and second-level domain are components of the root domain that give hierarchy to the domain structure. For example, in the root domain vooka.co.ke, the top-level domain is .co.ke and the second-level domain is vooka.

TLS certificate

A TLS certificate is a security protocol that creates a safe connection between a server and a browser, which keeps all connections to Vooka, including your own connections and your customers' connections, secure. When your TLS certificate is activated, a padlock icon appears beside your online store's URL in the address bar.

Other terms: Transport Layer Security, Secure Sockets Layer, SSL

TXT record

A TXT record is a DNS setting. TXT records contain text information that can be used by services outside of your domain. For example, you might add a TXT record that a third-party service has given you to verify with them that you own the domain.

Other terms: Text record

WHOIS privacy

WHOIS is a service you can use to look up information about the owner of a domain name.

WHOIS privacy is a service that hides your domain information from a WHOIS lookup and replaces your contact information with contactprivacy.com contact details. WHOIS privacy lets your personal contact information remain hidden from the public. You can purchase WHOIS privacy from your domain provider for an additional fee.