How crucial can an affordable domain name be?

One of the most essential prerequisites for having a successful Internet presence is the domain. It is what people will see first when they stumble upon your web page and what they will relate you with. The domain should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that tells your web page's visitors what the website is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain name as a rule consists of two constituents - a Top-Level Domain Name (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for instance, ".com" is the TLD and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are a few categories of TLDs that you should consider prior to choosing the domain name you wish. Your pick should be based on the purpose of your web page and on its target audience. Let's have a look at the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most widespread TLDs intended to express a specific function - .com (commercial establishments), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (businesses), .info (informational websites), .org (non-profit organizations), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific region), .name (persons or relatives), .pro (given professions), and so on. As you can see, these Top-Level Domain Names encompass most realms of life, so you should opt for the one that would denote the objective of your site best. There is no restriction as to who can register such domains, but some of them contain extra requirements to prove that you qualify to own such a domain (.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. Getting such a Top-Level Domain Name is good if your target group of website visitors is from a certain country. Many guys would elect to buy goods or services from a local website, and if your aim is Canada, for example, registering a .ca Top-Level Domain Name could boost the visits to your web site.

URL Redirects

You can register several domain names, which can redirect your web page's visitors to a certain website such as domain.com, for example. This would increase the traffic and lower the likelihood of somebody pinching your web page visitors by using the same name with another TLD - if you are not utilizing a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every domain has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) demonstrate where the domain is hosted, in other words they point to the hosting distributor whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is using at present. You can change the name servers of your domain at any time. You can have your domain name registered with one provider and get the site hosting service itself from another. Hence, if you register your domain and find good website hosting plans someplace else afterwards, you can point your domain to the current provider's name servers at once.

Name Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name uses a particular pair of DNSs, all its domain records will point to the same web space hosting firm. Some web page hosting firms, however, allow you to edit specific domain records, including the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an Internet Protocol address, which shows on which web hosting server your website is located, while the MX records show which web hosting server handles the mailbox accounts related to your domain name. For instance, if you engage a new web designer and he creates an .ASP web page that will be accommodated on his personal Windows web hosting server, you may wish to change solely the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. Thus, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows web server, but your e-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 environment is devised by Microsoft and requests a Windows web hosting server, even though a Linux hosting server would be way more secure.

Affordable TLDs Furnished by 'Exclusive Hosting'

Just a small number of web hosting companies enable you to edit specific domain name records and very often this an extra paid service. With Exclusive Hosting , you have an enormous selection of TLDs to select from and you can edit all DNS records or redirect the domains via a forwarding tool at no additional charge. Because of that, 'Exclusive Hosting' would be your best pick when it comes to managing your domain and to setting up a successful presence on the web.