How vital can an affordable domain name be?

One of the most vital requirements for setting up a successful online presence is the domain name. It is what people will note first when they stumble upon your web page and what they will link you with. The domain name should be easy to remember, but should also be something that tells your site's visitors what the web site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain name typically has 2 parts - a Top-Level Domain Name (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the TLD and "domain" is the SLD. There are a few sets of Top-Level Domains that you should consider before you choose the domain you want. Your pick should be based on the aim of your web page and on its target spectators. Let's scrutinize the gTLDs, or generic TLDs - these are the most common Top-Level Domains aimed to designate a specific intention - .com (business organizations), .net (networks), .biz (companies), .info (informative web pages), .org (not-for-profit organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific region), .name (individuals or relatives), .pro (given walks of life), and so on. As you can perceive, these Top-Level Domains encompass most spheres of life, so you should pick the one that would designate the objective of your site best. There is no limitation as to who can register such domains, but some of them contain additional procedures to confirm that you qualify to register such a Top-Level Domain Name (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code TLDs, are country-specific domain names. Each country has its own ccTLD. Registering such a Top-Level Domain is good if your target group of website visitors is from a given country. Many visitors would sooner buy goods or services from a local website, and if your target is Canada, for instance, settling on a .ca TLD could increase the visits to your web site.

URL Redirects

You can register a bunch of Top-Level Domains, which can send your website's visitors to a certain site such as domain.com, for example. This would boost the traffic and decrease the possibility of someone swiping your visitors by using the same Second-Level Domain with a different Top-Level Domain Name - if you are not availing of a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every domain name has domain records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) indicate where the domain name is hosted, in other words they point to the web hosting firm whose name servers (NSs, also known as DNSs) it is utilizing at the moment. You can switch the name servers of your domain whenever you wish. You can have your domain registered with one provider and get the webspace hosting service itself from another. In this way, if you register your domain and encounter good website hosting plans someplace else at a later time, you can point your domain name to the present company's NSs at once.

Name Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name uses a specific set of DNSs, all its records will point to the same site hosting firm. Some site hosting suppliers, though, enable you to modify given domain name records, including the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an IP address, which discloses on which server your web page is located, while the MX records specify which web server tackles the e-mail aliases related to your domain name. For instance, if you hire a new site designer and he designs an .ASP web page that will be hosted on his personal Windows web hosting server, you may desire to modify just the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. So, www.domain.com will point to the Windows server, but your electronic mails or any sub-domains such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux web page hosting account. The .ASP platform is created by Microsoft and demands a Windows web hosting server, although a Linux server would be far more reliable.

Low-cost TLDs Brought by 'Voila'

Just a small number of web hosting suppliers permit you to edit certain name server records and very often this an extra paid service. With Voila , you get an enormous array of Top-Level Domains to select from and you can modify all records or forward the domains using a redirection tool at no added cost. Because of that, 'Voila' would be your finest choice when it comes to handling your domain name and to setting up a successful presence on the web.