A domain name is a unique name that visitors type in a web browser to look at the pages in a website. 

It is the means through which a business is identified on the Internet. A domain name usually describes a brand name or trademark so that customers can associate the site with the service or product. 

The name helps users to locate and find information about a specific item on the internet. Without it, you cannot have a meaningful internet presence. 

Domain names have strategic significance too. 

They help to brand your products or services. You have always wanted your name to be familiar on the minds of web users. You want them to remember easily and associate the site with your business. 

Owning a domain name also creates a positive image for your business. A visitor to a free hosting service might ask, “if this business cannot afford a $20 domain name for its website, how can I be assured that it is genuine”. 

So a domain name builds reputation. It builds trust and confidence in your business partners and visitors. 

The next important reason why you need a domain name is mobility. If you move from one server to another, your pages can be hosted on another server if you have a domain name to point the pages on the new server to. 

If you do not have a domain name you cannot move your page around and maintain the same address. 

Look at this scenario. You have spent thousands of Dollars promoting your website which is a sub domain of another website. Now if this domain closes down, what will happen to your promotion. Visitors cannot reach the address. 

Your pages will still be available but people are relying on the addresses to reach you but they cannot reach your site and you cannot set up another server because the domain doesn’t belong to you. 

Think about advertising campaigns to which you have submitted your address and how popular that address has become. Now you will have to lose all those Dollars you spent because your domain is no longer active.

So you see the safety of owning a domain name and the dangers of hanging onto someone’s.