How valuable can an top domain name be?

One of the most vital preconditions for establishing a successful online presence is the domain. It is what visitors will perceive first when they discover your web page and what they will relate you with. The domain should be easy to remember, but should also be something that tells your website's visitors what the web site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain name typically is composed of 2 constituents - 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 SLD. There are a couple of categories of Top-Level Domain Names that you should examine before you select the domain name you wish. Your selection should rest on the purpose of your web site and on its target visitors. Let's explore the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most popular Top-Level Domain Names aimed to express a given purpose - .com (commercial enterprises), .net (networks), .biz (companies), .info (informational web pages), .org (organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific region), .name (individuals or families), .pro (particular walks of life), and so on. As you can perceive, these TLDs encompass most spheres of life, so you should pick the one that would portray the objective of your website best. There is no restriction as to who can register such TLDs, but some of them involve extra steps to show that you qualify to have such a Top-Level 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 name is good if your target group of site visitors is from a certain country. Many visitors would prefer to purchase goods or services from a local website, and if your target is Canada, for instance, registering a .ca domain name could boost the visits to your web site.

URL Redirects

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

Name Servers (NSs)

Every domain has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) display where the domain name is hosted, in other words they point to the web hosting provider whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is utilizing at present. You can swap the NSs of your domain whenever you want. You can have your domain registered with one firm and get the web page hosting service itself from another. Hence, if you register your domain and detect decent website hosting plans someplace else at a later time, you can point your domain to the present company's name servers right away.

Domain Name Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name utilizes a specific set of NSs, all its domain name server records will point to the same webspace hosting vendor. Some web site hosting providers, though, permit you to modify specific records, such as the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an IP address, which reveals on which web hosting server your site is situated, whereas the MX records specify which web hosting server tackles the email box accounts associated with your domain name. For instance, if you take on a new web designer and he devises an .ASP web page that will be located on his personal Windows web server, you may wish to edit only the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. Thus, www.domain.com will point to the Windows web server, but your email accounts or any sub-domain names such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux web page hosting account. The .ASP platform is invented by Microsoft and requires a Windows web hosting server, even though a Linux server would be way more stable.

Cheap Domain Names Provided by 'Exclusive Hosting'

Just a number of web hosting providers allow you to edit given domain name server records and very frequently this an extra paid service. With Exclusive Hosting , you get an enormous variety of TLDs to pick from and you can modify all DNS records or redirect the domain names through a forwarding tool at no added charge. Therefore, 'Exclusive Hosting' would be your best choice when it comes to handling your domain and to establishing a successful presence on the Internet.