How essential is to discover the best domain?

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

Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)

A domain as a rule contains 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 and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain Name. There are several categories of TLDs that you should consider prior to selecting the domain name you want. Your pick should depend on the purpose of your web page and on its target audience. Let's have a glance at the gTLDs, or generic TLDs - these are the most typical Top-Level Domain Names aimed to show a specific purpose - .com (business organizations), .net (networks), .biz (corporations), .info (informative resources), .org (non-profit organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific), .name (persons or families), .pro (qualified professionals), and so on. As you can see, these TLDs encompass most fields of life, so you should choose the one that would signify the objective of your site best. There is no restriction as to who can register such domains, but some of them contain extra procedures to confirm that you are eligible to register such a Top-Level Domain (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domain Names, are country-specific Top-Level Domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Getting such a domain name is good if your target group of web page visitors is from a given country. Many persons would want to purchase commodities or services from a local site, and if your aim is Canada, for example, selecting a .ca Top-Level Domain could increase the visits to your website.

URL Forwarding

You can register a bunch of Top-Level Domains, which can redirect your site's visitors to a specific site such as domain.com, for example. This would boost the traffic and decrease the probability of somebody pilfering your visitors by using the same Second-Level Domain Name with another TLD - if you are not using a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Every Top-Level Domain has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, also known as DNS records) display where the domain is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting company whose name servers (NSs, a.k.a. DNSs) it is utilizing at the moment. You can swap the NSs of your domain name at any time. You can have your domain name registered with one provider and get the web space hosting service itself from another. Thus, if you register your domain and find good website hosting solutions someplace else afterwards, you can point your domain to the current provider's name servers instantly.

Name Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain uses a given set of DNSs, all its domain name records will lead to the same web space hosting distributor. Some webspace hosting companies, however, allow you to edit specific name server records, such as the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an Internet Protocol address, which discloses on which hosting server your site is situated, whereas the MX records disclose which web server tackles the email address accounts related to your domain name. For example, if you appoint a new web page designer and he devises an .ASP website that will be hosted on his own Windows hosting server, you may want to change only the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. Hence, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows 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 site hosting account. The .ASP environment is designed by Microsoft and calls for a Windows web hosting server, even though a Linux web hosting server would be way more reliable.

Cut-Rate Domains Courtesy of 'LiveFrog'

Only a few web hosting suppliers permit you to edit specific domain name server records and very frequently this an additional paid service. With LiveFrog , you have an enormous collection of TLDs to choose from and you can edit all domain name records or forward the domain names via a redirection tool at no additional cost. Because of that, 'LiveFrog' would be your finest pick when it comes to administering your domain and to setting up a successful presence on the Internet.