How valuable can an top domain name be?

One of the most essential requirements for establishing a successful web presence is the domain. It is what people will notice first when they visit your website and what they will identify you with. The domain should be easy to remember, but should also be something that tells your website's visitors what the web site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain name as a rule 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 Second-Level Domain. There are a few categories of TLDs that you should examine before you choose the domain you wish. Your choice should be based on the aim of your website and on its target audience. Let's take a gaze at the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most typical Top-Level Domain Names intended to express a given intention - .com (business establishments), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (companies), .info (informative sites), .org (not-for-profit organizations), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific region), .name (persons or families), .pro (specific walks of life), etc. As you can perceive, these TLDs cover most realms of life, so you should choose the one that would designate the intention of your web page best. There is no limitation as to who can register such Top-Level Domains, but some of them contain additional steps to prove that you are eligible to have such a domain (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code TLDs, are country-specific TLDs. Each country has its own ccTLD. Opting for such a Top-Level Domain is good if your target group of website visitors is from a particular country. Many guys would like to purchase goods or services from a local website, and if your goal is Canada, for instance, choosing a .ca TLD could boost the visits to your website.

Domain Name Forwarding

You can register several Top-Level Domain Names, which can redirect your web site's visitors to a particular website like domain.com, for instance. This would increase the traffic and lower the likelihood of somebody stealing your visitors by using the same Second-Level Domain with another Top-Level Domain - if you are not utilizing a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Every TLD has domain records. The name server records (NS records, also known as DNS records) indicate where the domain name is hosted, in other words they point to the web hosting supplier whose name servers (NSs, a.k.a. DNSs) it is using at the moment. You can replace the NSs of your domain name whenever you like. You can have your domain name registered with one firm and get the hosting service itself from another. Therefore, if you register your domain and discover good website hosting solutions somewhere else later, you can point your domain to the new provider's DNSs instantly.

Domain Name Server Records (NS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name uses a specific pair of NSs, all its domain records will direct to the same web space hosting company. Some website hosting suppliers, though, enable you to modify certain domain name server records, like the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an Internet Protocol address, which discloses on which web hosting server your web page is situated, while the MX records reveal which server handles the e-mail address accounts associated with your domain name. For example, if you appoint a new site designer and he constructs an .ASP web page that will be located on his personal Windows web server, you may desire to modify just the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. In this way, www.domain.com will point to the Windows web server, but your mail address accounts or any sub-domain names like forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux website hosting account. The .ASP platform is invented by Microsoft and necessitates a Windows web server, although a Linux server would be far more reliable.

Cut-Price Domain Names Brought by 'Exclusive Hosting'

Only a number of web hosting providers enable you to edit certain domain name server records and very often this an additional paid service. With Exclusive Hosting , you have a huge collection of Top-Level Domains to pick from and you can edit all name server records or redirect the domain names through a forwarding tool at no extra charge. Because of that, 'Exclusive Hosting' would be your best choice when it comes to handling your domain and to establishing a successful presence on the web.