How valuable can an affordable domain be?

One of the most essential requirements for running a successful Internet presence is the domain name. It is what visitors will spot first when they come across your web page and what they will relate you with. The domain should be easy to remember, but should also be something that notifies your site's visitors what the web page is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain typically contains two fragments - a Top-Level Domain (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain Name (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the Top-Level Domain Name and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain Name. There are a couple of sets of TLDs that you should consider prior to picking the domain you wish. Your selection should be built upon the aim of your website and on its target spectators. Let's review the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most typical Top-Level Domain Names intended to show a particular function - .com (business establishments), .net (networks), .biz (businesses), .info (informational sites), .org (organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific region), .name (individuals or relatives), .pro (given professions), and so on. As you can see, these Top-Level Domains encompass most spheres of life, so you should pick the one that would indicate the aim of your website best. There is no restriction as to who can register such TLDs, but some of them contain additional requirements to verify that you qualify to have such a Top-Level Domain Name (.mobi and .pro, for instance).

Country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domain Names, are country-specific domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Selecting such a Top-Level Domain is good if your target group of visitors is from a certain country. Many individuals would sooner buy commodities or services from a local web site, and if your target is Canada, for example, opting for a .ca TLD could boost the visits to your website.

URL Forwarding

You can register a bunch of domains, which can redirect your web page's visitors to a particular website like domain.com, for example. This would increase the traffic and decrease the probability of somebody snatching your web site visitors by registering the same name with a different TLD - if you are not using a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each domain name has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, a.k.a. DNS records) reveal where the domain is hosted, in other words they point to the hosting provider whose name servers (NSs, also known as DNSs) it is utilizing now. You can swap the NSs of your domain at all times. You can have your domain registered with one firm and get the site hosting service itself from another. In this way, if you register your domain name and stumble upon decent website hosting solutions somewhere else afterwards, you can point your domain to the new provider's DNSs straight away.

Name Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name uses a certain set of name servers, all its NS records will lead to the same web space hosting supplier. Some website hosting vendors, however, allow you to modify given NS records, such as 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 site is located, whereas the MX records specify which web server tackles the e-mail addresses associated with your domain name. For example, if you take on a new web page designer and he develops an .ASP site that will be hosted on his own Windows web server, you may want to edit solely the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. Thus, www.domain.com will point to the Windows web hosting server, but your mails or any sub-domain names such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux web hosting account. The .ASP environment is invented by Microsoft and necessitates a Windows server, even though a Linux web server would be way more secure.

Cut-Rate Domains Brought by 'BlueStorm Hosting'

Just a small number of web hosting vendors permit you to modify specific domain name server records and very often this an additional paid service. With BlueStorm Hosting , you have an enormous collection of Top-Level Domains to choose from and you can modify all records or forward the domains via a redirection tool at no extra charge. Because of that, 'BlueStorm Hosting' would be your best pick when it comes to administering your domain name and to establishing a successful presence on the Internet.