What is the difference between a domain name and an IP address?

Created by Ryan Sullivan, Modified on Mon, Nov 17 at 9:49 AM by Ryan Sullivan

Think of it like the difference between a street address and a set of GPS coordinates.

A domain name is the address you type into your browser (like sitecare.com). It is designed to be easy for humans to read and remember.


An IP address is the actual technical location of the server where your website lives. It is a string of numbers (like 192.0.2.1) that computers use to identify and talk to each other.


Because these long strings of numbers are hard to memorize, the internet uses the Domain Name System (DNS). This acts like a digital phonebook, automatically translating the domain name you type into the specific IP address the computer needs to find the website.

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