There are 2 services you need for a functioning web site - a domain name plus a hosting plan for it. If you type the domain name in your web browser, you see the content that’s uploaded inside the web hosting account, but if that domain address is not linked to such an account or to an e-mail service, it is parked. To put it differently, the domain address is registered and you're its owner, but it doesn't have any content of its own. As a substitute, it can open either a pre-made “Under Construction / For Sale” Internet page from the registrar company, or it could be forwarded to any other URL of your choice. The main benefit of parking a domain address is that you can keep it and make sure that no one else will take it. At the same time, it will not occupy a slot for a hosted domain address within your account. You could also park domains if you have a .com, for example, and you register domain addresses with other extensions such as .net, .org or country-code ones to direct them to the main website so as to protect a brand name.