Domains Defined
One of the most important prerequisites for creating a successful web presence is the domain. It is what visitors will mark first when they come across your website and what they will relate you with. The domain should be easy to remember, but should also be something that informs your website's visitors what the web page is about.
Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)
A domain typically is composed of 2 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 and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are several categories of Top-Level Domain Names that you should consider before you choose the domain you want. Your choice should be built upon the aim of your site and on its target audience. Let's explore the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domains - these are the most popular Top-Level Domains intended to designate a particular purpose - .com (commercial enterprises), .net (networks), .biz (companies), .info (informative web pages), .org (not-for-profit organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific), .name (individuals or families), .pro (certain professions), and so on. As you can perceive, these Top-Level Domain Names encompass most realms of life, so you should opt for the one that would signify the aim of your web page best. There is no restriction as to who can register such domains, but some of them involve extra procedures to confirm that you qualify to own 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 TLDs. Each country has its own ccTLD. Selecting such a domain is good if your target group of site visitors is from a given country. Many guys would prefer to buy goods or services from a local website, and if your goal is Canada, for instance, opting for a .ca domain could boost the visits to your site.
Domain Redirects
You can register a number of domains, which can redirect your visitors to a specific web page like domain.com, for instance. This would increase the traffic and decrease the chance of someone snatching your web site visitors by registering the same SLD with another TLD - if you are not utilizing a trademark.
Name Servers (NSs)
Each and every domain name has domain records. The name server records (NS records, also known as DNS records) exhibit where the domain is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting firm whose name servers (NSs, a.k.a. DNSs) it is using now. You can change the DNSs of your domain name at any time. You can have your domain name registered with one company and get the website hosting service itself from another. In this way, if you register your domain name and encounter decent website hosting packages somewhere else afterwards, you can point your domain to the present provider's NSs right away.
Domain Server Records (DNS Records)
In general, as long as your domain name uses a specific set of name servers, all its records will direct to the same web hosting provider. Some web hosting firms, though, enable you to edit given records, such as the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an IP address, which specifies on which hosting server your web site is located, whereas the MX records specify which server tackles the e-mail accounts related to your domain name. For instance, if you engage a new web page designer and he creates an .ASP web page that will be situated on his personal Windows web server, you may want to edit just the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. So, www.domain.com will point to the Windows web server, but your email accounts or any sub-domains like forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux website hosting account. The .ASP environment is devised by Microsoft and demands a Windows web hosting server, even though a Linux web server would be way more secure.
Inexpensive Domains Furnished by 'My Business Companion'
Just a number of web hosting companies permit you to modify certain DNS records and quite often this an extra paid service. With us, you get an immense variety of TLDs to select from and you can edit all records or redirect the domain names via a redirection tool at no added cost.