What are Domains

One of the most essential preconditions for building a successful Internet presence is the domain. It is what people will mark first when they visit your site and what they will associate you with. The domain should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that informs your web page's visitors what the web page is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain usually is composed of two constituents - a Top-Level Domain Name (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the Top-Level Domain and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are a couple of sets of Top-Level Domains that you should consider prior to choosing the domain you desire. Your choice should be based on the aim of your site and on its target viewers. Let's take a glance at the gTLDs, or generic TLDs - these are the most popular Top-Level Domains meant to express a given function - .com (business enterprises), .net (networks), .biz (companies), .info (informative websites), .org (organizations of a non-commercial character), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific region), .name (individuals or relatives), .pro (qualified professionals), etc. As you can perceive, these TLDs encompass most spheres of life, so you should settle on the one that would describe the purpose of your web site best. There is no limitation as to who can register such domains, but some of them contain extra requirements to prove that you qualify to own such a Top-Level Domain (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domains, are country-specific Top-Level Domain Names. Each country has its own ccTLD. Opting for such a domain is good if your target group of web site visitors is from a certain country. Many persons would prefer to buy commodities or services from a local web page, and if your target is Canada, for example, choosing a .ca domain could increase the visits to your web page.

URL Forwarding

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

Name Servers (NSs)

Every Top-Level Domain has domain records. The name server records (NS records, a.k.a. DNS records) demonstrate where the domain is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting company whose name servers (NSs, a.k.a. DNSs) it is using at the moment. You can change the DNSs of your domain at all times. You can have your domain registered with one firm and get the website hosting service itself from another. Therefore, if you register your domain and discover good website hosting plans somewhere else afterwards, you can point your domain to the current provider's NSs straight away.

Domain Server Records (NS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name uses a particular pair of name servers, all its domain name server records will lead to the same website hosting vendor. Some website hosting providers, though, allow you to edit given domain name records, such as the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an Internet Protocol address, which demonstrates on which server your web site is situated, whereas the MX records exhibit which web server handles the mail accounts related to your domain name. For example, if you appoint a new web designer and he devises an .ASP website that will be located on his own Windows web hosting server, you may wish to modify only the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. Hence, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows web server, but your e-mail address accounts or any sub-domains like forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux website hosting account. The .ASP environment is devised by Microsoft and necessitates a Windows server, even though a Linux web server would be way more dependable.

Modestly Priced Domain Names Courtesy of 'CedegarHost'

Just a number of web hosting providers allow you to edit particular name server records and very frequently this an extra paid service. With us, you have an immense selection of TLDs to select from and you can edit all domain name server records or forward the domains using a redirection tool at no added charge.