Domain Names Defined
One of the most vital requirements for setting up a successful online presence is the domain. It is what visitors will see first when they chance upon your web site and what they will identify you with. The domain 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 typically has two components - a Top-Level Domain Name (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain (SLD). If you have domain.com, for example, ".com" is the TLD and "domain" is the Second-Level Domain. There are a few categories of TLDs that you should consider before you pick the domain you desire. Your decision should be built upon the aim of your website and on its target audience. Let's analyze the gTLDs, or generic TLDs - these are the most popular TLDs aimed to designate a given purpose - .com (business entities), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (corporations), .info (informative resources), .org (not-for-profit organizations), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific), .name (persons or relatives), .pro (certain walks of life), and so on. As you can perceive, these Top-Level Domain Names cover most spheres of life, so you should go for the one that would signify the purpose of your site best. There is no limitation as to who can register such domains, but some of them contain extra steps to verify that you qualify to keep such a domain name (.mobi and .pro, for instance).
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 given country. Many people would rather purchase goods or services from a local web site, and if your goal is Canada, for example, opting for a .ca domain could increase the visits to your website.
Domain Name Redirection
You can register different domain names, which can forward your web site's visitors to a certain web page like domain.com, for example. This would boost the traffic and lower the likelihood of someone pinching your web page visitors by registering the same Second-Level Domain Name with a different TLD - if you are not availing of a trademark.
Name Servers (NSs)
Every domain has domain records. The name server records (NS records, also known as DNS records) indicate where the domain is hosted, i.e. they point to the web hosting provider whose name servers (NSs, a.k.a. DNSs) it is using at the moment. You can alter the name servers of your domain at all times. You can have your domain registered with one firm and get the website hosting service itself from another. In this way, if you register your domain and encounter decent website hosting solutions someplace else at a later time, you can point your domain to the new provider's DNSs immediately.
Domain Server Records (DNS Records)
On the whole, as long as your domain name uses a given set of name servers, all its records will direct to the same web hosting distributor. Some web hosting distributors, though, permit you to modify specific DNS records, such as the A records and the MX records of your domain. The A record is an IP address, which indicates on which server your site is situated, whereas the MX records indicate which hosting server handles the email mailbox accounts associated with your domain name. For instance, if you appoint a new website designer and he sets up an .ASP web page that will be located on his own Windows hosting server, you may want to modify only the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain name. Thus, www.domain.com will point to the Windows web hosting server, but your email boxes or any sub-domain names such as forum.domain.com or shop.domain.com will still be in your present Linux web hosting account. The .ASP platform is developed by Microsoft and calls for a Windows web hosting server, even though a Linux server would be far more stable.
Cheap Domain Names Provided by 'STEERWEB'
Only a number of web hosting suppliers permit you to modify particular NS records and very frequently this an additional paid service. With us, you get a big selection of TLDs to pick from and you can modify all name server records or redirect the domain names via a redirection tool at no extra charge.