Domain Names Defined
One of the most important requirements for running a successful web presence is the domain name. It is what visitors will observe first when they chance upon your web page and what they will associate you with. The domain name should be easy to remember, but should also be something that informs your site's visitors what the web page is about.
Generic Top-Level Domain Names (gTLDs)
A domain name usually contains 2 parts - a Top-Level Domain Name (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the Top-Level Domain and "domain" is the SLD. There are a few categories of Top-Level Domains that you should examine prior to picking the domain name you wish. Your decision should be built upon the aim of your site and on its target visitors. Let's check the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most common Top-Level Domains meant to signify a particular purpose - .com (business establishments), .net (networks), .biz (companies), .info (informative sites), .org (organizations of a non-commercial character), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific region), .name (persons or relatives), .pro (specific professions), and so on. As you can see, these Top-Level Domains cover most fields of life, so you should choose the one that would depict the purpose of your web site best. There is no limitation as to who can register such domain names, but some of them involve extra procedures to demonstrate that you qualify to register such a TLD (.mobi and .pro, for instance).
Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)
The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domains, are country-specific Top-Level Domain Names. Each country has its own ccTLD. Choosing such a domain name is good if your target group of web site visitors is from a certain country. Many visitors would like to purchase goods or services from a local web page, and if your target is Canada, for example, choosing a .ca domain name could increase the visits to your web page.
Domain Redirection
You can register different Top-Level Domain Names, which can send your web site's visitors to a particular web site such as domain.com, for example. This would boost the traffic and lower the probability of somebody snatching your web site visitors by registering the same SLD with another Top-Level Domain - 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) show 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 change the NSs of your domain name whenever you wish. You can have your domain registered with one provider and get the web hosting service itself from another. In this way, if you register your domain and come across decent website hosting packages somewhere else later, you can point your domain name to the current provider's name servers immediately.
Domain Name Server Records (NS Records)
On the whole, as long as your domain name utilizes a specific pair of name servers, all its domain name server records will lead to the same website hosting company. Some website hosting suppliers, however, permit you to modify given domain records, among them the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an IP address, which displays on which server your site is located, whereas the MX records demonstrate which hosting server handles the mail address accounts associated with your domain name. For example, if you engage a new website designer and he designs an .ASP web site that will be located on his personal Windows web hosting server, you may wish to alter solely the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. In this way, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows web hosting server, but your e-mailbox accounts or any sub-domains like forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux hosting account. The .ASP environment is designed by Microsoft and requests a Windows web server, although a Linux web server would be far more secure.
Modestly Priced Domains Provided by 'DaliHost'
Only a small number of web hosting suppliers allow you to modify particular domain name server records and quite frequently this an extra paid service. With us, you have a big assortment of TLDs to choose from and you can modify all DNS records or forward the domains through a redirection tool at no added cost.