How vital can an top domain be?

One of the most essential prerequisites for establishing a successful Internet presence is the domain name. It is what people will note first when they chance upon your web site and what they will identify you with. The domain name 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 typically has 2 fragments - a Top-Level Domain (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for instance, ".com" is the TLD and "domain" is the SLD. There are a couple of sets of Top-Level Domains that you should contemplate before you choose the domain you want. Your decision should be based on the purpose of your site and on its target visitors. Let's analyze the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most typical Top-Level Domain Names meant to designate a given intention - .com (commercial establishments), .net (networks), .biz (corporations), .info (informational web sites), .org (organizations), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific region), .name (persons or relatives), .pro (particular walks of life), etc. As you can see, these Top-Level Domain Names encompass most spheres of life, so you should pick the one that would explain the aim of your web site best. There is no limitation as to who can register such Top-Level Domains, but some of them involve additional procedures to verify that you qualify to have 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 Top-Level Domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Choosing such a domain is good if your target group of visitors is from a specific country. Many people would rather buy goods or services from a local site, and if your target is Canada, for example, registering a .ca domain name could increase the visits to your web site.

URL Forwarding

You can register a bunch of domain names, which can forward your visitors to a given web page such as domain.com, for example. This would boost the traffic and reduce the possibility of somebody swiping your web site visitors by registering the same SLD with a different TLD - if you are not using a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Every Top-Level Domain has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, a.k.a. DNS records) disclose where the domain name is hosted, i.e. they point to the hosting company whose name servers (NSs, also known as DNSs) it is using at present. You can switch the DNSs of your domain whenever you wish. You can have your domain name registered with one firm and get the webspace hosting service itself from another. So, if you register your domain name and find good website hosting packages someplace else afterwards, you can point your domain name to the current provider's NSs straight away.

Domain Name Server Records (DNS Records)

On the whole, as long as your domain utilizes a given set of DNSs, all its domain records will direct to the same website hosting distributor. Some web hosting providers, though, permit you to modify specific NS records, such as the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an IP address, which details on which web server your web site is located, while the MX records exhibit which web hosting server tackles the mail aliases associated with your domain name. For instance, if you hire a new web page designer and he devises an .ASP web site that will be accommodated on his private Windows web hosting server, you may want to alter only the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. In this way, www.domain.com will point to the Windows web hosting server, but your e-mailboxes or any sub-domains such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux web page hosting account. The .ASP environment is designed by Microsoft and requires a Windows web hosting server, even though a Linux hosting server would be far more dependable.

Low-cost Top-Level Domain Names Offered by 'Exclusive Hosting'

Just a few web hosting distributors allow you to edit specific name server records and quite often this an additional paid service. With Exclusive Hosting , you get an extensive selection of Top-Level Domain Names to pick from and you can modify all DNS records or forward the domains via a redirection tool at no added charge. Therefore, 'Exclusive Hosting' would be your best choice when it comes to handling your domain and to creating a successful presence on the Internet.