How valuable can an affordable domain name be?

One of the most important preconditions for having a successful online presence is the domain. It is what people will observe first when they chance upon your web site and what they will identify you with. The domain should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that informs your visitors what the web site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain name typically contains 2 constituents - a Top-Level Domain (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the Top-Level Domain and "domain" is the SLD. There are a couple of sets of Top-Level Domains that you should consider before you pick the domain you want. Your choice should be based on the aim of your web site and on its target viewers. Let's have a peek at the gTLDs, or generic TLDs - these are the most common Top-Level Domains meant to express a particular purpose - .com (business establishments), .net (networks), .biz (corporations), .info (informational websites), .org (organizations of a non-commercial character), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific region), .name (individuals or families), .pro (specific professions), and so on. As you can see, these TLDs encompass most fields of life, so you should pick the one that would show the objective of your site best. There is no limitation as to who can register such Top-Level Domains, but some of them involve extra steps to demonstrate that you are eligible to register 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. Opting for such a Top-Level Domain Name is good if your target group of visitors is from a given country. Many folks would prefer to purchase goods or services from a local website, and if your goal is Canada, for example, settling on a .ca domain name could increase the visits to your web page.

Domain Name Forwarding

You can register several TLDs, which can redirect your web page's visitors to a given website such as domain.com, for example. This would raise the traffic and decrease the likelihood of someone swiping your web site visitors by registering the same SLD with another Top-Level Domain - if you are not using a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every Top-Level Domain Name has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) demonstrate where the domain is hosted, i.e. they point to the hosting vendor whose name servers (NSs, a.k.a. DNSs) it is utilizing at the moment. You can change the name servers of your domain whenever you want. You can have your domain name registered with one provider and get the webspace hosting service itself from another. Thus, if you register your domain and stumble upon good website hosting services somewhere else afterwards, you can point your domain to the present company's DNSs immediately.

Name Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain uses a particular set of DNSs, all its records will point to the same web site hosting distributor. Some website hosting firms, though, allow you to edit given domain records, among them the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an Internet Protocol address, which indicates on which hosting server your site is hosted, whereas the MX records show which hosting server handles the e-mail accounts related to your domain name. For instance, if you take on a new site designer and he sets up an .ASP site that will be located on his own Windows web server, you may wish to modify just the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. Thus, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows hosting server, but your e-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 environment is created by Microsoft and requests a Windows web server, although a Linux hosting server would be far more reliable.

Modestly Priced Top-Level Domains Courtesy of 'Ford Web Consulting'

Only a few web hosting distributors enable you to edit particular records and very often this an additional paid service. With Ford Web Consulting , you have an extensive assortment of Top-Level Domains to choose from and you can edit all NS records or redirect the domain names via a redirection tool at no additional charge. Because of that, 'Ford Web Consulting' would be your best choice when it comes to administering your domain and to building a successful presence on the World Wide Web.