How vital is to locate the best domain name?

One of the most vital prerequisites for creating a successful Internet presence is the domain name. It is what people will notice first when they visit your web site and what they will relate you with. The domain name should be easy to remember, but should also be something that tells your website's visitors what the web page is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain typically is composed 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 Top-Level Domain and "domain" is the SLD. There are a couple of sets of Top-Level Domains that you should contemplate before you choose the domain you wish. Your pick should be built upon the intention of your web site and on its target visitors. Let's have a gaze at the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domains - these are the most typical Top-Level Domains aimed to express a particular purpose - .com (business entities), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (businesses), .info (informative web pages), .org (organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific), .name (persons or families), .pro (particular walks of life), etc. As you can perceive, these Top-Level Domains encompass most spheres of life, so you should settle on the one that would describe the objective of your web site best. There is no restriction as to who can register such Top-Level Domain Names, but some of them contain additional steps to prove that you are eligible to own such a TLD (.mobi and .pro, for instance).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domains, are country-specific TLDs. Each country has its own ccTLD. Settling on such a Top-Level Domain is good if your target group of visitors is from a certain country. Many folks would elect to buy commodities or services from a local site, and if your goal is Canada, for instance, getting a .ca domain name could boost the visits to your web site.

Domain Forwarding

You can register a number of TLDs, which can redirect your visitors to a particular website like domain.com, for instance. This would increase the traffic and lower the probability of somebody snatching your web site visitors by registering the same Second-Level Domain with a different Top-Level Domain - if you are not using a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every domain name has domain records. The name server records (NS records, a.k.a. DNS records) show where the domain name is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting firm whose name servers (NSs, also known as DNSs) it is utilizing now. You can modify the NSs of your domain name at all times. You can have your domain registered with one provider and get the web space hosting service itself from another. Hence, if you register your domain name and find decent website hosting plans someplace else later, you can point your domain to the new company's NSs instantly.

Domain Name Server Records (NS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name utilizes a specific set of name servers, all its NS records will lead to the same web site hosting company. Some website hosting distributors, though, enable you to edit given DNS records, including the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an IP address, which discloses on which hosting server your web page is situated, while the MX records show which web server handles the mailbox accounts related to your domain name. For example, if you take on a new site designer and he build an .ASP website that will be located on his private Windows server, you may want to modify solely the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. Thus, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows hosting server, but your e-mail boxes or any sub-domains such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux web space hosting account. The .ASP environment is built by Microsoft and demands a Windows web server, although a Linux server would be way more dependable.

Modestly Priced Domain Names Distributed by 'Free Hostia'

Just a small number of web hosting companies enable you to modify certain DNS records and quite frequently this an additional paid service. With Free Hostia , you get an extensive assortment of TLDs to select from and you can edit all records or forward the domains using a forwarding tool at no additional cost. That is why, 'Free Hostia' would be your best pick when it comes to handling your domain and to establishing a successful presence on the Internet.