How important can an affordable domain name be?

One of the most important prerequisites for setting up a successful Internet presence is the domain. It is what visitors will see first when they come across your web page and what they will identify you with. The domain name should be easy to remember, but should also be something that notifies your visitors what the site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain as a rule is composed of two parts - a Top-Level Domain (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain Name (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the Top-Level Domain and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are a few sets of Top-Level Domains that you should contemplate before you choose the domain name you want. Your pick should be based on the goal of your website and on its target viewers. Let's explore the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domains - these are the most common Top-Level Domain Names intended to express a specific function - .com (commercial entities), .net (networks), .biz (companies), .info (informative web sites), .org (not-for-profit organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific region), .name (individuals or families), .pro (qualified professionals), and so on. As you can see, these Top-Level Domains cover most spheres of life, so you should settle on the one that would show the aim of your web page best. There is no limitation as to who can register such domain names, but some of them include additional procedures to show that you qualify to register such a TLD (.mobi and .pro, for instance).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domain Names, are country-specific TLDs. Each country has its own ccTLD. Registering such a domain name is good if your target group of web page visitors is from a specific country. Many visitors would want to purchase commodities or services from a local web page, and if your aim is Canada, for example, opting for a .ca Top-Level Domain could boost the visits to your site.

Domain Redirects

You can register a number of domains, which can send your visitors to a given site such as domain.com, for example. This would boost the traffic and lower the chance of someone snatching your website visitors by using the same SLD with another Top-Level Domain Name - if you are not availing of a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each domain has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) indicate where the domain is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting distributor whose name servers (NSs, also known as DNSs) it is utilizing at the moment. You can switch the name servers of your domain at any time. You can have your domain registered with one provider and get the web site hosting service itself from another. Hence, if you register your domain and come across decent website hosting services someplace else later, you can point your domain to the new provider's DNSs straight off.

Name Server Records (DNS Records)

On the whole, as long as your domain name uses a particular set of DNSs, all its domain name server records will lead to the same webspace hosting vendor. Some webspace hosting companies, however, enable you to edit specific domain name records, among them the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an Internet Protocol address, which shows on which server your website is situated, whereas the MX records disclose which hosting server handles the email address accounts related to your domain name. For instance, if you hire a new web site designer and he designs an .ASP site that will be located on his personal Windows web hosting server, you may wish to edit just the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. Thus, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows server, but your mails 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 environment is devised by Microsoft and demands a Windows server, even though a Linux web server would be way more stable.

Moderately Priced Top-Level Domain Names Furnished by 'Free Hostia'

Just a few web hosting companies allow you to edit specific domain records and quite often this an additional paid service. With Free Hostia , you get a vast selection of TLDs to select from and you can edit all DNS records or forward the domain names through a forwarding tool at no added charge. Because of that, 'Free Hostia' would be your best choice when it comes to managing your domain and to setting up a successful presence on the Internet.