Domains Explained

One of the most essential requirements for running a successful online presence is the domain. It is what people will observe first when they discover your site and what they will identify you with. The domain should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that notifies your web site's visitors what the website is about.

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain traditionally has 2 parts - a Top-Level Domain (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain Name (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the TLD and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are a couple of categories of TLDs that you should consider prior to choosing the domain you wish. Your pick should be based on the purpose of your web site and on its target visitors. Let's check out the gTLDs, or generic TLDs - these are the most common Top-Level Domain Names aimed to signify a particular function - .com (commercial enterprises), .net (networks), .biz (businesses), .info (informational sites), .org (organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific), .name (persons or relatives), .pro (qualified professionals), etc. As you can see, these TLDs encompass most fields of life, so you should opt for the one that would show the intention of your web site best. There is no limitation as to who can register such domains, but some of them contain additional steps to confirm that you qualify to own such a domain name (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code TLDs, are country-specific Top-Level Domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Selecting such a domain is good if your target group of web page visitors is from a given country. Many folks would want to buy commodities or services from a local web site, and if your goal is Canada, for instance, opting for a .ca domain could increase the visits to your site.

Domain Name Redirection

You can register a bunch of Top-Level Domain Names, which can send your web page's visitors to a given web page such as domain.com, for example. This would increase the traffic and reduce the possibility of someone pinching your visitors by registering the same name with another TLD - if you are not utilizing a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each TLD has domain records. The name server records (NS records, a.k.a. DNS records) show where the domain is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting vendor whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is utilizing now. You can swap the DNSs of your domain whenever you want. You can have your domain name registered with one company and get the website hosting service itself from another. In this way, if you register your domain and find decent website hosting packages someplace else afterwards, you can point your domain to the current provider's DNSs instantaneously.

Domain Server Records (NS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name utilizes a specific pair of DNSs, all its domain name records will direct to the same web hosting supplier. Some web hosting providers, though, permit you to edit certain records, among them the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an Internet Protocol address, which designates on which web server your web page is situated, whereas the MX records disclose which web hosting server handles the mail addresses associated with your domain name. For example, if you engage a new web page designer and he sets up an .ASP website that will be located on his private Windows web server, you may desire to alter just the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. Thus, www.domain.com will point 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 hosting account. The .ASP environment is designed by Microsoft and demands a Windows hosting server, although a Linux web hosting server would be far more reliable.

Inexpensive Domains Provided by 'Top Hosting Provider'

Only a few web hosting distributors allow you to modify specific NS records and quite frequently this an additional paid service. With us, you get a big array of Top-Level Domains to pick from and you can modify all name server records or redirect the domain names through a forwarding tool at no added cost.