How valuable can an affordable domain name be?

One of the most crucial requirements for running a successful web presence is the domain name. It is what visitors will observe first when they stumble upon your web site and what they will link you with. The domain should be easy to remember, but should also be something that informs your visitors what the web page is about.

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain name as a rule consists of 2 constituents - a Top-Level Domain Name (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain Name (SLD). If you have domain.com, for instance, ".com" is the Top-Level Domain Name and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are a few sets of Top-Level Domains that you should contemplate before you pick the domain name you desire. Your decision should be based on the aim of your web site and on its target spectators. Let's take a look at the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domains - these are the most common TLDs aimed to show a given purpose - .com (commercial entities), .net (networks), .biz (companies), .info (informative web pages), .org (organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific region), .name (persons or relatives), .pro (given walks of life), and so on. As you can perceive, these Top-Level Domains cover most spheres of life, so you should pick the one that would express the intention of your web site best. There is no restriction as to who can register such domain names, but some of them contain additional procedures to ascertain that you qualify to keep such a Top-Level Domain (.mobi and .pro, for instance).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domains, are country-specific domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Choosing such a domain is good if your target group of site visitors is from a given country. Many visitors would sooner buy commodities or services from a local web site, and if your aim is Canada, for example, opting for a .ca TLD could increase the visits to your web site.

URL Redirects

You can register a bunch of Top-Level Domain Names, which can redirect your web page's visitors to a particular website like domain.com, for example. This would increase the traffic and decrease the risk of somebody pilfering your web site visitors by using the same SLD with a different TLD - if you are not availing of a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every domain has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) display where the domain is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting provider whose name servers (NSs, a.k.a. DNSs) it is using at present. You can switch the DNSs of your domain name at any moment. You can have your domain name registered with one provider and get the website hosting service itself from another. So, if you register your domain name and come across good website hosting packages somewhere else later, you can point your domain name to the current provider's name servers immediately.

Name Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name utilizes a specific pair of name servers, all its domain name records will point to the same web space hosting company. Some web site hosting providers, however, allow you to edit specific DNS records, such as the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an Internet Protocol address, which discloses on which web hosting server your site is situated, while the MX records display which server tackles the email addresses related to your domain name. For instance, if you hire a new web site designer and he sets up an .ASP web site that will be situated on his own Windows web hosting server, you may desire to alter solely the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. Thus, www.domain.com will point to the Windows web hosting server, but your electronic mail accounts or any sub-domain names like forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux hosting account. The .ASP platform is developed by Microsoft and calls for a Windows server, even though a Linux web hosting server would be way more secure.

Cut-Rate Top-Level Domains Supplied by 'My hosting company'

Only a small number of web hosting companies permit you to edit particular domain records and very often this an extra paid service. With My hosting company , you get an enormous assortment of Top-Level Domains to pick from and you can modify all NS records or forward the domain names through a forwarding tool at no extra charge. Therefore, 'My hosting company' would be your best pick when it comes to handling your domain and to building a successful presence on the web.