Domain Names Explained

One of the most important preconditions for establishing a successful online presence is the domain. It is what people will notice first when they come across your web site and what they will identify you with. The domain should be easy to memorize, 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 (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain Name (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the TLD and "domain" is the SLD. There are a few categories of TLDs that you should contemplate before you pick the domain you want. Your choice should depend on the purpose of your web page and on its target audience. Let's examine the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most common Top-Level Domain Names meant to express a given purpose - .com (commercial enterprises), .net (networks), .biz (corporations), .info (informative web pages), .org (not-for-profit organizations), .mobi (handheld devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific region), .name (individuals or relatives), .pro (specific professions), and so on. As you can perceive, these Top-Level Domains cover most fields of life, so you should pick the one that would portray the intention of your website best. There is no restriction as to who can register such domains, but some of them include additional procedures to ascertain that you qualify to possess such a domain name (.mobi and .pro, for example).

Country-code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code TLDs, are country-specific domain names. Each country has its own ccTLD. Opting for such a domain is good if your target group of visitors is from a particular country. Many folks would rather purchase goods or services from a local website, and if your aim is Canada, for example, opting for a .ca domain could boost the visits to your web page.

Domain Name Redirects

You can register several domain names, which can redirect your visitors to a specific web site like domain.com, for example. This would raise the traffic and lower the chance of someone pinching your visitors by using the same SLD with a different Top-Level Domain - if you are not using a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Every domain name has domain records. The name server records (NS records, aka DNS records) show where the domain is hosted, in other words they point to the hosting vendor whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is using at the moment. You can swap 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 detect good website hosting packages somewhere else later, you can point your domain to the present company's name servers instantaneously.

Domain Server Records (NS Records)

On the whole, as long as your domain uses a particular pair of name servers, all its domain name server records will direct to the same web hosting provider. Some website hosting suppliers, however, allow you to modify given name server records, like the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an IP address, which exhibits on which web server your site is situated, whereas the MX records display which server tackles the email aliases associated with your domain name. For instance, if you engage a new web site designer and he develops an .ASP web site that will be accommodated on his personal Windows web hosting server, you may desire to change solely the Internet Protocol address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. So, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows hosting server, but your e-mailboxes or any sub-domain names such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux website hosting account. The .ASP environment is created by Microsoft and calls for a Windows server, although a Linux web server would be way more stable.

Cut-Price Top-Level Domain Names Offered by 'City Portal'

Only a few web hosting vendors allow you to modify given name server records and quite often this an additional paid service. With us, you have a huge assortment of Top-Level Domains to pick from and you can modify all domain name server records or forward the domain names through a redirection tool at no added charge.