How important can an top domain name be?

One of the most essential prerequisites for creating a successful Internet presence is the domain name. It is what visitors will see first when they discover your web site and what they will link you with. The domain name should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that tells your website's visitors what the site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain traditionally consists of 2 components - a Top-Level Domain (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 a few sets of Top-Level Domain Names that you should examine prior to picking the domain name you desire. Your choice should be based on the purpose of your web site and on its target visitors. Let's have a look at the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most typical TLDs intended to denote a given intention - .com (commercial enterprises), .net (networks), .biz (businesses), .info (informative websites), .org (non-profit organizations), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific), .name (individuals or relatives), .pro (particular professions), and so on. As you can see, these Top-Level Domain Names cover most spheres of life, so you should choose the one that would signify the intention of your web page best. There is no limitation as to who can register such Top-Level Domain Names, but some of them involve extra steps to show that you qualify to own such a TLD (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domains, are country-specific domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Registering such a domain name is good if your target group of site visitors is from a certain country. Many individuals would elect to buy commodities or services from a local web page, and if your goal is Canada, for instance, choosing a .ca Top-Level Domain Name could increase the visits to your website.

Domain Name Redirects

You can register several Top-Level Domains, which can redirect your website's visitors to a given website such as domain.com, for instance. This would boost the traffic and reduce the risk of somebody snatching your site visitors by registering the same Second-Level Domain with a different Top-Level Domain Name - if you are not availing of a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every domain has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) reveal where the domain name is hosted, in other words they point to the hosting supplier whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is utilizing at the moment. You can modify the NSs of your domain whenever you want. You can have your domain name registered with one company and get the hosting service itself from another. Therefore, if you register your domain name and find decent website hosting solutions somewhere else afterwards, you can point your domain to the present company's NSs immediately.

Name Server Records (NS Records)

In general, as long as your domain utilizes a specific pair of DNSs, all its DNS records will direct to the same web site hosting distributor. Some site hosting vendors, though, allow you to edit specific NS records, including the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an Internet Protocol address, which reveals on which server your site is located, whereas the MX records show which web server handles the mailbox accounts related to your domain name. For instance, if you engage a new web site designer and he constructs an .ASP site that will be accommodated on his private Windows hosting server, you may desire to modify just the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. In this way, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows web hosting server, but your mail address accounts or any sub-domain names such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux web space hosting account. The .ASP environment is developed by Microsoft and calls for a Windows web server, although a Linux web hosting server would be far more reliable.

Inexpensive Domain Names Provided by 'Exclusive Hosting'

Only a small number of web hosting suppliers permit you to modify certain domain name records and very frequently this an extra paid service. With Exclusive Hosting , you get a huge selection of Top-Level Domains to select from and you can edit all records or redirect the domains through a forwarding tool at no additional cost. Therefore, 'Exclusive Hosting' would be your best choice when it comes to administering your domain and to building a successful presence on the World Wide Web.