How important can an affordable domain name be?

One of the most essential requirements for establishing a successful online presence is the domain name. It is what visitors will mark first when they visit your web page and what they will identify you with. The domain name should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that tells your website's visitors what the web site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain name usually is composed 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 and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are several groups of Top-Level Domains that you should consider before you pick the domain you want. Your selection should depend on the intention of your web page and on its target viewers. Let's analyze the gTLDs, or generic TLDs - these are the most popular TLDs meant to indicate a specific purpose - .com (business establishments), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (corporations), .info (informational web pages), .org (non-profit organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific region), .name (persons or families), .pro (particular professions), and so on. As you can see, these TLDs cover most spheres of life, so you should pick the one that would express the intention of your web page best. There is no restriction as to who can register such TLDs, but some of them include extra steps to show that you qualify to possess such a Top-Level Domain Name (.mobi and .pro, for instance).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domains, are country-specific Top-Level Domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Registering such a Top-Level Domain is good if your target group of visitors is from a particular country. Many folks would prefer to purchase commodities or services from a local site, and if your aim is Canada, for instance, choosing a .ca Top-Level Domain could boost the visits to your web site.

Domain Name Redirects

You can register a bunch of TLDs, which can send your site's visitors to a specific web page like domain.com, for instance. This would raise the traffic and reduce the risk of someone snatching your website visitors by registering the same Second-Level Domain Name with a different TLD - if you are not using a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every TLD has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, also known as DNS records) reveal where the domain is hosted, in other words they point to the web hosting company whose name servers (NSs, also known as DNSs) it is using at present. You can change the name servers of your domain name whenever you wish. You can have your domain registered with one provider and get the web hosting service itself from another. Hence, if you register your domain name and encounter decent website hosting packages somewhere else later, you can point your domain to the present company's name servers at once.

Name Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name utilizes a specific pair of name servers, all its name server records will point to the same web hosting firm. Some web hosting providers, though, permit you to modify given domain name records, among them the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an IP address, which shows on which web hosting server your website is located, whereas the MX records specify which server handles the email mailbox accounts associated with your domain name. For instance, if you take on a new web page designer and he creates an .ASP web page that will be situated on his private Windows server, you may wish to alter solely the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. Hence, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows hosting server, but your electronic mail accounts or any sub-domains such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux site hosting account. The .ASP platform is created by Microsoft and necessitates a Windows web hosting server, even though a Linux server would be way more secure.

Moderately Priced Top-Level Domains Brought by 'My hosting company'

Just a few web hosting companies enable you to modify specific domain name records and very often this an additional paid service. With My hosting company , you get a big assortment of Top-Level Domains to choose from and you can modify all records or redirect the domains through a redirection tool at no extra cost. That is why, 'My hosting company' would be your best choice when it comes to managing your domain and to building a successful presence on the World Wide Web.