How important can an affordable domain name be?

One of the most essential preconditions for building a successful web presence is the domain name. It is what people will spot first when they visit your site and what they will identify you with. The domain name should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that notifies your web site's visitors what the site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain usually contains two parts - a Top-Level Domain (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the TLD and "domain" is the SLD. There are several sets of Top-Level Domain Names that you should contemplate prior to picking the domain you want. Your selection should rest on the aim of your web site and on its target visitors. Let's investigate the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domains - these are the most common TLDs meant to denote a particular function - .com (commercial establishments), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (firms), .info (informative web pages), .org (not-for-profit organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific), .name (individuals or families), .pro (given professions), and so on. As you can see, these TLDs cover most spheres of life, so you should opt for the one that would portray the aim of your site best. There is no restriction as to who can register such Top-Level Domain Names, but some of them include additional requirements to confirm that you qualify to have such a domain (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domain Names, are country-specific TLDs. Each country has its own ccTLD. Choosing such a domain is good if your target group of website visitors is from a particular country. Many persons would want to purchase commodities or services from a local web site, and if your goal is Canada, for instance, choosing a .ca domain could boost the visits to your site.

Domain Name Redirection

You can register a number of Top-Level Domain Names, which can send your website's visitors to a specific web site like domain.com, for instance. This would boost the traffic and reduce the possibility of someone snatching your web site visitors by using the same Second-Level Domain with another Top-Level Domain Name - if you are not utilizing a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Every domain name has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, a.k.a. DNS records) specify where the domain name is hosted, in other words they point to the web hosting distributor whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is utilizing now. You can modify the DNSs of your domain whenever you want. You can have your domain registered with one company and get the webspace hosting service itself from another. So, if you register your domain and discover decent website hosting plans someplace else afterwards, you can point your domain name to the new provider's DNSs right away.

Name Server Records (DNS Records)

On the whole, as long as your domain name utilizes a specific set of NSs, all its domain name server records will direct to the same website hosting distributor. Some web site hosting firms, however, allow you to modify specific records, such as the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an Internet Protocol address, which indicates on which web hosting server your website is situated, while the MX records specify which hosting server handles the e-mail address accounts associated with your domain name. For example, if you hire a new site designer and he creates an .ASP site that will be hosted on his personal Windows server, you may want to change only the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. In this way, www.domain.com will point to the Windows web server, but your e-mails or any sub-domain names like forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux web hosting account. The .ASP environment is developed by Microsoft and demands a Windows hosting server, even though a Linux hosting server would be way more reliable.

Cut-Rate Domains Provided by 'Fully Web Hosting'

Only a small number of web hosting distributors enable you to modify particular domain name server records and quite frequently this an additional paid service. With Fully Web Hosting , you have a vast array of TLDs to select from and you can edit all NS records or redirect the domain names using a redirection tool at no extra cost. Therefore, 'Fully Web Hosting' would be your best choice when it comes to administering your domain name and to building a successful presence on the web.