How important can an top domain be?

One of the most essential prerequisites for having a successful web presence is the domain. It is what visitors will notice first when they come across your site and what they will associate you with. The domain name should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that notifies your web site's visitors what the web site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain name as a rule contains two parts - 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 Name. There are a few categories of TLDs that you should consider before you select the domain you desire. Your selection should rest on the aim of your web site and on its target audience. Let's have a look at the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domains - these are the most typical Top-Level Domains meant to express a specific function - .com (commercial organizations), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (businesses), .info (informative resources), .org (organizations of a non-commercial character), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific region), .name (persons or relatives), .pro (qualified professionals), etc. As you can see, these Top-Level Domain Names cover most spheres of life, so you should go for the one that would designate the intention of your site best. There is no restriction as to who can register such domains, but some of them contain extra requirements to prove that you qualify to possess such a Top-Level Domain (.mobi and .pro, for instance).

Country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domains, are country-specific Top-Level Domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Selecting such a TLD is good if your target group of web site visitors is from a certain country. Many people would elect to purchase goods or services from a local site, and if your target is Canada, for example, getting a .ca Top-Level Domain could increase the visits to your website.

Domain Name Redirection

You can register a number of Top-Level Domains, which can redirect your visitors to a given website like domain.com, for instance. This would increase the traffic and lower the chance of somebody pilfering your site visitors by registering the same Second-Level Domain with another Top-Level Domain - if you are not availing of a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every Top-Level Domain has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, also known as DNS records) reveal where the domain name is hosted, in other words they point to the web hosting distributor whose name servers (NSs, a.k.a. DNSs) it is using at the moment. You can switch the DNSs of your domain name at any moment. You can have your domain name registered with one company and get the site hosting service itself from another. Therefore, if you register your domain and stumble upon good website hosting solutions someplace else at a later time, you can point your domain name to the current provider's NSs straight away.

Domain Name Server Records (NS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name uses a specific set of DNSs, all its domain records will lead to the same website hosting provider. Some site hosting companies, though, permit you to edit specific domain records, including the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an IP address, which reveals on which web hosting server your web site is hosted, whereas the MX records designate which hosting server handles the email mailbox accounts related to your domain name. For instance, if you appoint a new web page designer and he devises an .ASP web page that will be accommodated on his personal Windows server, you may desire to change just the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. In this way, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows web server, but your e-mailbox accounts or any sub-domains such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your present Linux hosting account. The .ASP platform is devised by Microsoft and calls for a Windows web server, even though a Linux hosting server would be way more secure.

Low-Priced Domain Names Furnished by 'Exclusive Hosting'

Just a few web hosting companies allow you to edit specific domain name records and very often this an additional paid service. With Exclusive Hosting , you get a wide variety of Top-Level Domains to select from and you can modify all NS records or redirect the domains through a forwarding tool at no extra cost. Therefore, 'Exclusive Hosting' would be your finest pick when it comes to managing your domain and to building a successful presence on the Internet.