How valuable can an affordable domain be?

One of the most important preconditions for setting up a successful web presence is the domain. It is what visitors will spot first when they visit your web site and what they will identify you with. The domain name should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that notifies your web site's visitors what the web site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain as a rule contains two parts - a Top-Level Domain Name (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain Name (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 several groups of Top-Level Domain Names that you should examine prior to picking the domain name you desire. Your choice should rest on the goal of your website and on its target audience. Let's review the gTLDs, or generic TLDs - these are the most typical Top-Level Domain Names intended to indicate a particular function - .com (business establishments), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (corporations), .info (informational web sites), .org (organizations), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific), .name (individuals or relatives), .pro (particular walks of life), etc. As you can see, these Top-Level Domains encompass most realms of life, so you should settle on the one that would portray the purpose of your website best. There is no restriction as to who can register such domains, but some of them include extra steps to demonstrate that you are eligible to possess such a domain name (.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. Registering such a TLD is good if your target group of website visitors is from a given country. Many folks would prefer to purchase commodities or services from a local site, and if your goal is Canada, for instance, settling on a .ca domain name could increase the visits to your website.

URL Redirection

You can register a number of TLDs, which can redirect your web page's visitors to a certain website such as domain.com, for instance. This would raise the traffic and decrease the risk of someone snatching your web page visitors by registering the same name with a different TLD - if you are not availing of a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every domain name has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, also known as DNS records) disclose where the domain is hosted, in other words they point to the web hosting supplier whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is utilizing at the moment. You can switch the name servers of your domain name at all times. You can have your domain registered with one company and get the web page hosting service itself from another. Hence, if you register your domain name and come across decent website hosting plans someplace else later, you can point your domain name to the new provider's DNSs straight away.

Domain Name Server Records (NS Records)

On the whole, as long as your domain uses a particular set of name servers, all its NS records will direct to the same web space hosting vendor. Some web space hosting suppliers, though, permit you to modify specific domain name server records, like the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an IP address, which indicates on which web server your site is hosted, whereas the MX records display which web hosting server handles the mail accounts related to your domain name. For example, if you appoint a new web site designer and he designs an .ASP website that will be hosted on his private Windows server, you may desire to modify only the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. In this way, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows hosting server, but your email mailboxes or any sub-domains such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your present Linux website hosting account. The .ASP platform is invented by Microsoft and requires a Windows web server, although a Linux server would be far more stable.

Modestly Priced Top-Level Domain Names Courtesy of 'Blue Ribbon Hosting'

Just a small number of web hosting suppliers enable you to edit specific DNS records and very frequently this an additional paid service. With Blue Ribbon Hosting , you have an enormous collection of TLDs to pick from and you can edit all records or forward the domains via a redirection tool at no added charge. Therefore, 'Blue Ribbon Hosting' would be your finest choice when it comes to administering your domain name and to setting up a successful presence on the Internet.