How important can an affordable domain name be?

One of the most vital preconditions for running a successful online presence is the domain name. It is what people will notice first when they visit your web site and what they will identify you with. The domain should be easy to remember, but should also be something that informs your site's visitors what the web site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain name usually is composed of two components - 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 Name. There are a couple of sets of Top-Level Domains that you should examine before you pick the domain you desire. Your decision should rest on the purpose of your web site and on its target visitors. Let's have a peek at the gTLDs, or generic TLDs - these are the most typical TLDs intended to express a particular function - .com (business establishments), .net (networks), .biz (corporations), .info (informational sites), .org (organizations of a non-commercial character), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific), .name (individuals or relatives), .pro (certain professions), etc. As you can perceive, these Top-Level Domain Names cover most realms of life, so you should settle on the one that would explain the intention of your web site best. There is no limitation as to who can register such domains, but some of them involve additional steps to prove that you qualify to keep such a Top-Level Domain (.mobi and .pro, for instance).

Country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domain Names, are country-specific domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Getting such a TLD is good if your target group of visitors is from a certain country. Many guys would sooner purchase commodities or services from a local website, and if your goal is Canada, for example, picking a .ca domain name could boost the visits to your web site.

Domain Forwarding

You can register different domain names, which can redirect your site's visitors to a certain website like domain.com, for example. This would raise the traffic and lower the likelihood of somebody stealing your visitors by registering the same SLD with a different TLD - if you are not utilizing a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Every domain has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, also known as DNS records) exhibit where the domain is hosted, i.e. they point to the hosting supplier whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is using now. You can replace the DNSs of your domain whenever you like. You can have your domain registered with one firm and get the hosting service itself from another. So, if you register your domain and stumble upon good website hosting plans someplace else later, you can point your domain to the current company's DNSs right away.

Domain Name Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name uses a specific pair of DNSs, all its NS records will lead to the same website hosting firm. Some hosting firms, though, allow you to modify specific name server records, like the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an IP address, which shows on which server your web site is hosted, whereas the MX records disclose which web hosting server handles the email mailbox accounts related to your domain name. For instance, if you appoint a new website designer and he creates an .ASP website that will be situated on his private Windows hosting server, you may want to edit only the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. Hence, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows web hosting server, but your email mailboxes or any sub-domains such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux website hosting account. The .ASP platform is developed by Microsoft and calls for a Windows hosting server, even though a Linux server would be way more reliable.

Moderately Priced Top-Level Domains Distributed by 'Exclusive Hosting'

Only a small number of web hosting vendors permit you to modify certain domain name server records and quite frequently this an additional paid service. With Exclusive Hosting , you get a vast variety of Top-Level Domain Names to select from and you can modify all name server records or redirect the domains through a redirection tool at no extra charge. Because of that, 'Exclusive Hosting' would be your finest pick when it comes to administering your domain and to building a successful presence on the Internet.