Domain Names Explained

One of the most vital requirements for having a successful Internet presence is the domain. It is what people will see first when they discover your website and what they will identify 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 Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain typically has 2 components - a Top-Level Domain Name (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 categories of Top-Level Domain Names that you should consider before you pick the domain you desire. Your decision should be based on the purpose of your website and on its target spectators. Let's have a look at the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domains - these are the most popular Top-Level Domain Names intended to denote a specific purpose - .com (business entities), .net (networks), .biz (companies), .info (informational web sites), .org (organizations of a non-commercial character), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific), .name (persons or families), .pro (given professions), and so on. As you can perceive, these TLDs cover most fields of life, so you should opt for the one that would show the intention of your web page best. There is no limitation as to who can register such domains, but some of them contain extra procedures to ascertain that you qualify to possess such a Top-Level Domain Name (.mobi and .pro, for instance).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code TLDs, are country-specific Top-Level Domain Names. Each country has its own ccTLD. Registering such a domain is good if your target group of website visitors is from a certain country. Many folks would sooner purchase commodities or services from a local web site, and if your aim is Canada, for instance, settling on a .ca domain could boost the visits to your web site.

Domain Redirection

You can register a number of domains, which can redirect your site's visitors to a particular website like domain.com, for example. This would increase the traffic and lower the probability of somebody pilfering your visitors by registering the same name with a different Top-Level Domain Name - if you are not utilizing a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every domain has domain records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) reveal where the domain is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting distributor whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is using now. You can switch the name servers of your domain whenever you wish. You can have your domain name registered with one company and get the website hosting service itself from another. Therefore, if you register your domain and find good website hosting services somewhere else afterwards, you can point your domain to the present provider's DNSs straight off.

Domain Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name utilizes a specific pair of DNSs, all its name server records will point to the same website hosting provider. Some hosting companies, however, enable you to modify certain domain name server records, like the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an IP address, which reveals on which hosting server your web site is located, whereas the MX records indicate which server handles the e-mail aliases related to your domain name. For instance, if you hire a new website designer and he devises an .ASP web page that will be located on his private Windows web server, you may wish to modify only the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. In this way, www.domain.com will point to the Windows hosting server, but your e-mailboxes or any sub-domains like forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your present Linux web hosting account. The .ASP platform is invented by Microsoft and calls for a Windows web server, even though a Linux server would be way more dependable.

Cut-Price Domain Names Provided by 'G Designz'

Just a few web hosting companies enable you to edit specific name server records and quite often this an additional paid service. With us, you get an enormous selection of Top-Level Domain Names to select from and you can edit all domain name records or redirect the domains using a forwarding tool at no extra cost.