How valuable is to discover the best domain name?

One of the most important preconditions for building a successful Internet presence is the domain name. It is what visitors will observe first when they stumble upon your site and what they will associate you with. The domain name should be easy to remember, but should also be something that notifies your visitors what the website is about.

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain name traditionally has 2 components - a Top-Level Domain Name (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for instance, ".com" is the Top-Level Domain Name and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain Name. There are a couple of groups of Top-Level Domains that you should consider prior to selecting the domain name you desire. Your pick should rest on the goal of your web site and on its target audience. Let's scrutinize the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most typical TLDs aimed to express a specific purpose - .com (business organizations), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (corporations), .info (informative web pages), .org (not-for-profit organizations), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific region), .name (persons or families), .pro (given professions), and so on. As you can see, these Top-Level Domain Names cover most spheres of life, so you should go for the one that would show the aim of your web page best. There is no limitation as to who can register such TLDs, but some of them include additional steps to demonstrate that you are eligible to register such a Top-Level Domain (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domain Names, are country-specific domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Getting such a Top-Level Domain Name is good if your target group of visitors is from a given country. Many visitors would prefer to purchase commodities or services from a local web page, and if your aim is Canada, for example, registering a .ca Top-Level Domain Name could boost the visits to your website.

URL Redirection

You can register different Top-Level Domains, which can send your web site's visitors to a given site like domain.com, for instance. This would boost the traffic and lower the chance of someone snatching your web site visitors by using the same Second-Level Domain Name with a different Top-Level Domain Name - if you are not using a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Every TLD has domain records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) reveal where the domain name is hosted, in other words they point to the web hosting vendor whose name servers (NSs, also known as DNSs) it is using now. You can alter the NSs of your domain whenever you wish. You can have your domain name registered with one firm and get the web page hosting service itself from another. So, if you register your domain and detect decent website hosting services somewhere else afterwards, you can point your domain to the new provider's name servers straight away.

Name Server Records (NS Records)

On the whole, as long as your domain name uses a certain pair of NSs, all its name server records will lead to the same website hosting supplier. Some web page hosting distributors, though, enable you to edit specific DNS records, including the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an IP address, which shows on which hosting server your website is hosted, whereas the MX records show which server tackles the e-mailbox accounts associated with your domain name. For instance, if you engage a new web page designer and he creates an .ASP website that will be located on his private Windows web server, you may want to edit solely the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. So, www.domain.com will point to the Windows web server, but your mail accounts or any sub-domain names like forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux web hosting account. The .ASP platform is devised by Microsoft and necessitates a Windows web server, even though a Linux web server would be way more reliable.

Moderately Priced TLDs Distributed by 'Free Hostia'

Only a small number of web hosting suppliers allow you to modify certain NS records and very often this an extra paid service. With Free Hostia , you get a large assortment of Top-Level Domain Names to pick from and you can edit all domain name records or forward the domains via a forwarding tool at no added cost. Therefore, 'Free Hostia' would be your finest pick when it comes to handling your domain and to building a successful presence on the Internet.