How valuable can an affordable domain be?

One of the most essential preconditions for establishing a successful web presence is the domain name. It is what visitors will note first when they discover your web site and what they will identify you with. The domain name should be easy to memorize, but should also be something that notifies your website's visitors what the web site is about.

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain usually consists of two fragments - a Top-Level Domain (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the Top-Level Domain Name and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are a few categories of Top-Level Domains that you should examine before you pick the domain you want. Your selection should rest on the aim of your web site and on its target visitors. Let's explore the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domains - these are the most widespread Top-Level Domain Names intended to express a specific function - .com (business enterprises), .net (networks), .biz (businesses), .info (informative web pages), .org (organizations of a non-commercial character), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific region), .name (persons or families), .pro (specific walks of life), and so on. As you can see, these Top-Level Domain Names encompass most spheres of life, so you should choose the one that would denote the aim of your website best. There is no restriction as to who can register such Top-Level Domains, but some of them contain additional steps to demonstrate that you qualify to possess such a Top-Level Domain (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

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

Domain Name Redirection

You can register a bunch of domain names, which can forward your web page's visitors to a given web site like domain.com, for instance. This would increase the traffic and reduce the possibility of someone snatching your visitors by registering the same SLD with another Top-Level Domain Name - if you are not availing of a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each TLD has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) reveal where the domain name is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting vendor whose name servers (NSs, a.k.a. DNSs) it is using at the moment. You can substitute the DNSs of your domain at all times. You can have your domain registered with one firm and get the web space hosting service itself from another. Therefore, if you register your domain name and encounter decent website hosting solutions somewhere else later, you can point your domain to the current provider's DNSs straight off.

Domain Name Server Records (NS Records)

On the whole, as long as your domain uses a specific pair of NSs, all its domain name server records will point to the same web page hosting provider. Some web hosting providers, however, permit you to modify specific domain name records, including the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an Internet Protocol address, which demonstrates on which hosting server your site is hosted, whereas the MX records disclose which web server tackles the email box accounts related to your domain name. For instance, if you take on a new web designer and he constructs an .ASP web page that will be situated on his personal Windows web hosting server, you may want to change solely the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. So, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows hosting server, but your email boxes or any sub-domains like forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your present Linux hosting account. The .ASP environment is developed by Microsoft and demands a Windows server, although a Linux hosting server would be far more reliable.

Moderately Priced Domains Provided by 'Heartland Web Hosting'

Only a few web hosting suppliers permit you to modify given domain records and quite frequently this an extra paid service. With Heartland Web Hosting , you get a wide assortment of TLDs to choose from and you can modify all name server records or redirect the domain names via a forwarding tool at no additional cost. Because of that, 'Heartland Web Hosting' would be your finest pick when it comes to handling your domain and to building a successful presence on the Internet.