What are Domains

One of the most crucial prerequisites for setting up a successful web presence is the domain. It is what people will notice first when they discover your website and what they will identify you with. The domain should be easy to remember, but should also be something that tells your visitors what the web site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain traditionally 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 Name and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are several sets of TLDs that you should contemplate prior to selecting the domain you desire. Your choice should be based on the aim of your site and on its target visitors. Let's have a peek at the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most popular Top-Level Domains meant to indicate a specific purpose - .com (commercial entities), .net (networks), .biz (companies), .info (informative websites), .org (non-profit organizations), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific), .name (individuals or relatives), .pro (given professions), etc. As you can see, these Top-Level Domains cover most fields of life, so you should choose the one that would express the purpose of your site best. There is no limitation as to who can register such domains, but some of them contain additional requirements to prove that you are eligible to keep such a Top-Level Domain Name (.mobi and .pro, for instance).

Country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domain Names, are country-specific domain names. Each country has its own ccTLD. Selecting such a domain is good if your target group of web site visitors is from a specific country. Many guys would elect to buy commodities or services from a local website, and if your aim is Canada, for example, getting a .ca domain could boost the visits to your website.

Domain Name Redirection

You can register a bunch of Top-Level Domain Names, which can forward your website's visitors to a certain website like domain.com, for instance. This would raise the traffic and lower the chance of somebody stealing your visitors by using the same Second-Level Domain with another Top-Level Domain Name - if you are not utilizing a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each Top-Level Domain has domain records. The name server records (NS records, a.k.a. DNS records) specify where the domain is hosted, in other words they point to the web hosting vendor whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is utilizing at present. You can change the NSs of your domain name whenever you like. You can have your domain registered with one provider and get the web hosting service itself from another. Thus, if you register your domain and stumble upon decent website hosting plans somewhere else at a later time, you can point your domain to the new provider's NSs immediately.

Domain Server Records (NS Records)

In general, as long as your domain utilizes a specific pair of DNSs, all its name server records will point to the same website hosting supplier. Some web hosting suppliers, however, permit you to modify certain name server 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 web site is situated, whereas the MX records specify which web server handles the e-mail box accounts related to your domain name. For example, if you engage a new site designer and he creates an .ASP web page that will be situated on his own Windows hosting server, you may want to edit only the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. In this way, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows server, but your mails or any sub-domains such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux hosting account. The .ASP platform is designed by Microsoft and demands a Windows web hosting server, although a Linux server would be far more secure.

Inexpensive Domain Names Courtesy of 'GlobalNet WebHosting - Hepsia Control Panel'

Only a few web hosting companies permit you to edit given domain records and very often this an extra paid service. With us, you get a huge selection of TLDs to select from and you can modify all name server records or forward the domain names using a redirection tool at no added charge.