How valuable can an affordable domain name be?

One of the most vital preconditions for running a successful Internet presence is the domain name. It is what people will spot first when they discover your web site and what they will link you with. The domain should be easy to remember, but should also be something that informs your visitors what the web site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain typically consists of 2 parts - a Top-Level Domain (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the Top-Level Domain Name and "domain" is the SLD. There are a couple of sets of TLDs that you should contemplate prior to selecting the domain name you wish. Your decision should be built upon the purpose of your web site and on its target visitors. Let's check out the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most widespread TLDs meant to indicate a given intention - .com (commercial organizations), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (firms), .info (informative sites), .org (not-for-profit organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific region), .name (persons or families), .pro (certain professions), etc. As you can see, these Top-Level Domains encompass most spheres of life, so you should pick the one that would denote the aim of your website best. There is no restriction as to who can register such domain names, but some of them involve extra procedures to prove that you are eligible to register such a domain (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code TLDs, are country-specific domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Selecting such a domain name is good if your target group of web page visitors is from a particular country. Many folks would want to buy commodities or services from a local website, and if your aim is Canada, for example, registering a .ca domain could increase the visits to your website.

URL Forwarding

You can register a bunch of Top-Level Domains, which can forward your web page's visitors to a certain website like domain.com, for instance. This would boost the traffic and reduce the risk of someone swiping your web site visitors by using the same name with another Top-Level Domain Name - if you are not availing of a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every domain name has domain records. The name server records (NS records, also known as DNS records) indicate where the domain name is hosted, i.e. they point to the hosting supplier whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is using at the moment. You can modify the name servers of your domain at any time. You can have your domain registered with one company and get the web hosting service itself from another. So, if you register your domain and discover decent website hosting packages somewhere else at a later time, you can point your domain to the current company's NSs immediately.

Domain Name Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name utilizes a given pair of DNSs, all its domain records will point to the same hosting supplier. Some web page hosting firms, however, enable you to modify specific NS records, including the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an IP address, which indicates on which hosting server your site is located, while the MX records reveal which web server handles the e-mailbox accounts related to your domain name. For example, if you take on a new web site designer and he sets up an .ASP site that will be located on his own Windows hosting server, you may wish to change just the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. Hence, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows web server, but your emails or any sub-domain names such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your present Linux webspace hosting account. The .ASP environment is created by Microsoft and requires a Windows web hosting server, although a Linux web server would be far more reliable.

Inexpensive Top-Level Domains Distributed by 'Free Hostia'

Only a number of web hosting vendors permit you to modify specific NS records and very often this an additional paid service. With Free Hostia , you get a vast collection of Top-Level Domain Names to choose from and you can modify all name server records or forward the domains via a forwarding tool at no additional charge. Therefore, 'Free Hostia' would be your best pick when it comes to handling your domain and to creating a successful presence on the Internet.