What are Domain Names

One of the most essential requirements for establishing a successful Internet presence is the domain name. It is what people will see first when they discover your site and what they will associate you with. The domain name should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that notifies your web site's visitors what the web page is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain name as a rule has two fragments - 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 Name and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are a few categories of Top-Level Domains that you should examine before you select the domain name you want. Your pick should be built upon the intention of your site and on its target audience. Let's study the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most common TLDs meant to express a specific purpose - .com (commercial enterprises), .net (networks), .biz (companies), .info (informational web sites), .org (not-for-profit organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific region), .name (individuals or families), .pro (given walks of life), and so on. As you can see, these TLDs encompass most spheres of life, so you should pick the one that would denote the purpose of your web site best. There is no restriction as to who can register such domain names, but some of them include extra steps to demonstrate that you qualify to register such a domain (.mobi and .pro, for instance).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code TLDs, are country-specific Top-Level Domain Names. Each country has its own ccTLD. Opting for such a domain name is good if your target group of web page visitors is from a specific country. Many individuals would rather buy goods or services from a local website, and if your aim is Canada, for instance, choosing a .ca domain name could boost the visits to your site.

Domain Forwarding

You can register a number of Top-Level Domain Names, which can forward your website's visitors to a certain web site such as domain.com, for instance. This would boost the traffic and decrease the possibility of somebody pilfering your web site visitors by using the same Second-Level Domain with a different Top-Level Domain - if you are not utilizing a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every Top-Level Domain Name has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) disclose where the domain name is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting distributor whose name servers (NSs, also known as DNSs) it is using now. You can replace the DNSs of your domain at any time. You can have your domain name registered with one company and get the web hosting service itself from another. In this way, if you register your domain name and encounter decent website hosting packages someplace else afterwards, you can point your domain name to the new company's name servers instantly.

Domain Name Server Records (NS Records)

On the whole, as long as your domain name utilizes a certain pair of name servers, all its domain name records will lead to the same web hosting vendor. Some website hosting companies, however, enable you to edit specific domain name server records, such as the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an IP address, which discloses on which hosting server your web site is located, while the MX records exhibit which web server handles the mail addresses associated with your domain name. For instance, if you engage a new web designer and he creates an .ASP website that will be accommodated on his personal Windows web server, you may desire to edit solely the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. In this way, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows web hosting server, but your email boxes or any sub-domains like forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your present Linux web hosting account. The .ASP environment is built by Microsoft and necessitates a Windows hosting server, even though a Linux server would be way more secure.

Modestly Priced Top-Level Domain Names Courtesy of 'Websoes'

Just a number of web hosting providers allow you to edit certain domain name records and very often this an extra paid service. With us, you have a wide variety of TLDs to choose from and you can modify all name server records or forward the domain names via a forwarding tool at no additional cost.