How valuable can an affordable domain name be?

One of the most important requirements for running a successful Internet presence is the domain name. It is what people will observe first when they come across your web page and what they will associate you with. The domain name should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that informs your visitors what the web page is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain name as a rule contains two constituents - a Top-Level Domain Name (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the Top-Level Domain and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are several sets of Top-Level Domain Names that you should examine before you pick the domain you desire. Your decision should be based on the aim of your site and on its target spectators. Let's study the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most popular TLDs intended to indicate a specific purpose - .com (business organizations), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (businesses), .info (informational sites), .org (organizations), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific region), .name (individuals or families), .pro (certain professions), etc. As you can perceive, these Top-Level Domains encompass most fields of life, so you should choose the one that would describe the aim of your web site best. There is no restriction as to who can register such Top-Level Domains, but some of them contain extra procedures to prove that you qualify to possess such a Top-Level Domain Name (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code TLDs, are country-specific Top-Level Domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Picking such a TLD is good if your target group of web site visitors is from a specific country. Many visitors would like to purchase commodities or services from a local web page, and if your goal is Canada, for instance, opting for a .ca TLD could boost the visits to your web site.

Domain Redirects

You can register several domain names, which can send your site's visitors to a given web page such as domain.com, for instance. This would boost the traffic and reduce the probability of someone pilfering your website visitors by registering the same name with a different Top-Level Domain - if you are not using a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every Top-Level Domain has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, also known as DNS records) disclose where the domain is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting vendor whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is utilizing at present. You can alter the NSs of your domain whenever you want. You can have your domain registered with one firm and get the web page hosting service itself from another. Thus, if you register your domain and encounter decent website hosting services someplace else at a later time, you can point your domain to the current company's name servers right away.

Domain Name Server Records (NS Records)

On the whole, as long as your domain uses a specific pair of name servers, all its name server records will lead to the same web site hosting company. Some webspace hosting providers, though, enable you to edit certain domain name server records, including the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an IP address, which exhibits on which web server your website is located, whereas the MX records exhibit which hosting server handles the e-mailbox accounts associated with your domain name. For instance, if you take on a new web page designer and he sets up an .ASP web site that will be hosted on his personal Windows web server, you may desire to alter solely the IP 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 e-mails or any sub-domains like forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your present Linux web space hosting account. The .ASP environment is built by Microsoft and demands a Windows web hosting server, even though a Linux hosting server would be far more dependable.

Cut-Rate Domain Names Offered by 'Exclusive Hosting'

Only a number of web hosting suppliers permit you to edit particular domain name server records and quite often this an additional paid service. With Exclusive Hosting , you get an enormous assortment of TLDs to choose from and you can edit all records or forward the domain names through a forwarding tool at no additional charge. Because of that, 'Exclusive Hosting' would be your finest pick when it comes to handling your domain and to building a successful presence on the Internet.