Domain Names Explained

One of the most important requirements for setting up a successful online presence is the domain name. It is what visitors will see first when they stumble upon your web page and what they will relate you with. The domain name 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 name typically contains two components - a Top-Level Domain (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 several sets of Top-Level Domain Names that you should examine before you select the domain name you want. Your choice should be built upon the intention of your site and on its target viewers. Let's take a glance at the gTLDs, or generic Top-Level Domain Names - these are the most common Top-Level Domains intended to show a particular function - .com (business enterprises), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (corporations), .info (informational websites), .org (non-profit organizations), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia-Pacific), .name (individuals or relatives), .pro (specific walks of life), etc. As you can perceive, these Top-Level Domains encompass most fields of life, so you should go for the one that would express the aim of your web page best. There is no restriction as to who can register such domain names, but some of them include extra steps to confirm that you are eligible to possess such a domain (.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. Picking such a domain name is good if your target group of web site visitors is from a certain country. Many persons would prefer to purchase goods or services from a local web site, and if your target is Canada, for instance, getting a .ca domain name could boost the visits to your website.

Domain Redirection

You can register different Top-Level Domains, which can send your visitors to a certain web page like domain.com, for instance. This would boost the traffic and reduce the risk of somebody pinching your web site visitors by using the same Second-Level Domain with another Top-Level Domain Name - if you are not using a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each Top-Level Domain Name has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, also known as DNS records) display where the domain name is hosted, in other words they point to the web hosting firm whose name servers (NSs, a.k.a. DNSs) it is using at the moment. You can switch the DNSs of your domain name whenever you like. You can have your domain registered with one company and get the web hosting service itself from another. In this way, if you register your domain name and stumble upon good website hosting plans someplace else at a later time, you can point your domain name to the current provider's NSs straight away.

Domain Name Server Records (DNS Records)

In general, as long as your domain name utilizes a certain set of NSs, all its domain name records will lead to the same website hosting supplier. Some website hosting distributors, however, allow you to modify given NS records, including 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 web page is situated, while the MX records demonstrate which web server handles the email accounts related to your domain name. For instance, if you engage a new web designer and he devises an .ASP site that will be hosted on his personal Windows hosting server, you may wish to modify solely the Internet Protocol 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 server, but your email accounts or any sub-domains such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your current Linux web hosting account. The .ASP environment is invented by Microsoft and calls for a Windows web hosting server, even though a Linux web server would be way more stable.

Cut-Price Domain Names Offered by 'Dornan Hosting'

Just a small number of web hosting suppliers enable you to edit certain domain records and very frequently this an additional paid service. With us, you get an extensive selection of TLDs to select from and you can modify all DNS records or redirect the domains via a forwarding tool at no additional charge.