Domains

Domains are an important part of how B2BCMarket organizes its public marketplace presence, websites, catalog pages, and publicly accessible information.

A domain provides the web address through which users can access B2BCMarket and its public marketplace resources. Within the B2BCMarket architecture, domains work together with public URLs, catalog identifiers, and the Connected Entity Architecture (BCEA).

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What Is a Domain?

A domain is a human-readable web address used to identify and access a website or web service.

For B2BCMarket, the primary domain provides the public entry point to the marketplace and its associated services.

From the main domain, users can navigate to marketplace information, introduction pages, catalog pages, account functionality, and other available services.

The B2BCMarket Domain

The primary B2BCMarket domain is:

The domain represents the public web presence of the B2BCMarket marketplace.

Individual pages are then identified through paths and URLs beneath the domain.

Domain and URL

A domain and a URL are related but they are not the same thing.

The domain identifies the website, while a URL identifies a particular resource or location within that website.

This distinction becomes especially important for the B2BCMarket catalog architecture because each public entity can have its own public URL.

Domains and the Connected Entity Architecture

B2BCMarket uses the Connected Entity Architecture (BCEA) to connect its primary public marketplace entities.

These entities can have independently accessible catalog URLs while remaining connected to one another.

Public URLs

Public URLs provide direct access to marketplace entities.

The important principle is that the public identity of an entity is represented through its public URL rather than exposing internal database identifiers.

This allows users and external systems to access public entities without requiring knowledge of internal database implementation details.

Business URLs

A Business represents the broader business context within B2BCMarket.

A Business has its own public identity and catalog URL.

The Business URL allows users to access the business-level marketplace representation directly.

Company URLs

A Company has its own public identity and catalog URL.

The company public identity is constructed from a company slug together with its public share identifier.

This provides a stable public identity while also making the URL meaningful and human-readable.

Branch URLs

A Branch represents a company's branch or operational location.

The branch public identity uses branch information together with its public share identifier.

Branch URLs can therefore provide both geographic context and a stable public identifier.

Product URLs

Products have their own public catalog representation.

Product navigation uses the product public identifier together with its branch context.

This allows a product to remain connected to the branch through which it is available.

Human-Readable URLs

B2BCMarket uses slug-based public identifiers for major catalog entities.

A slug transforms descriptive information such as a business, company, branch, or product name into a URL-friendly representation.

For example:

The slug can then be combined with a public share identifier to create a public identity.

Public Identifiers vs. Internal Identifiers

B2BCMarket distinguishes between public identifiers and internal database identifiers.

Internal database GUIDs are not intended to become the public identity of marketplace entities.

This separation helps maintain a clean public architecture while allowing the internal database structure to evolve independently.

Domains and Catalog Architecture

Domains provide the base location for the public catalog architecture.

This means the domain is the foundation on which the publicly accessible marketplace graph is exposed.

Domain and Navigation

Users can navigate through B2BCMarket using public URLs.

A visitor may begin at the business level and move down through the hierarchy.

The same marketplace relationship can also be explored in reverse.

Domains and Search Engines

A stable domain and well-structured public URLs provide a foundation for search-engine discovery.

Search engines can discover publicly accessible pages through links, XML catalogs, sitemaps, structured data, and other machine-readable representations.

B2BCMarket's public entity architecture allows the relationships between businesses, companies, branches, and products to be represented consistently across these systems.

Domains and Machine-Readable Catalogs

B2BCMarket can represent its public catalog relationships through machine-readable catalog resources.

These resources can include XML representations, sitemaps, and structured data such as JSON-LD.

The important architectural principle is that these machine-readable representations should reflect the same entity relationships that users see through public catalog pages.

One Domain, Connected Resources

The B2BCMarket domain can provide access to many different types of public resources while maintaining a consistent marketplace identity.

Domain Stability

Stable public URLs are important for a connected marketplace.

When public identifiers and URLs remain stable, users, search engines, external systems, and other marketplace participants can continue to reference the same public entities.

This is particularly important for catalog entities that may remain available for long periods of time.

Domain and Public Identity

A domain provides the common web location, while public identifiers provide the identity of individual entities.

Together they form the public addressing system of the marketplace.

Why Domains Matter

Domains provide the foundation for B2BCMarket's public web presence.

• They provide a recognizable marketplace identity.
• They provide the base location for public URLs.
• They support independent access to public catalog entities.
• They allow related entities to remain connected through URLs.
• They provide a foundation for search-engine discovery.
• They support machine-readable catalog representations.
• They separate public web identity from internal database identifiers.

Domain, Catalog, and BCEA Together

The relationship between these concepts can be summarized as:

Together, these components create a consistent public representation of the B2BCMarket marketplace.

One Connected Public Marketplace

B2BCMarket is not simply a collection of unrelated web pages.

Its public architecture connects businesses, companies, branches, and products through identifiable relationships and accessible URLs.

The domain provides the common public foundation, while BCEA defines how the entities are connected.

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Continue Exploring B2BCMarket

Continue exploring the B2BCMarket introduction:

• B2BCMarket Introduction
• Connected Entity Architecture
• Business
• Company
• Branch
• Product
• Connected Navigation
• Marketplace Models
• Marketplace Strategies
• Buyers
• Sellers
• Merchants
• Product Offerings
• Product Visibility
• Orders and Payments
• Subscriptions
• Revenue Sharing
• Domains
• Frequently Asked Questions