Domains Explained

One of the most vital preconditions for running a successful Internet presence is the domain name. It is what visitors will observe first when they chance upon your web page and what they will relate you with. The domain name should be easy to remember, but should also be something that informs your website's visitors what the web page is about.

Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs)

A domain name typically has 2 parts - a Top-Level Domain Name (TLD) and a Second-Level Domain Name (SLD). If you have domain.com, for instance, ".com" is the TLD 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 desire. Your choice should depend on the goal of your site and on its target viewers. Let's take a glance at the gTLDs, or generic TLDs - these are the most typical Top-Level Domains aimed to designate a specific function - .com (commercial entities), .net (network infrastructures), .biz (firms), .info (informative web pages), .org (organizations of a non-commercial character), .mobi (mobile devices), .asia (the Asia Pacific), .name (persons or relatives), .pro (given professions), etc. As you can perceive, these TLDs cover most fields of life, so you should settle on the one that would indicate the aim of your web site best. There is no restriction as to who can register such domain names, but some of them include additional steps to ascertain that you qualify to possess such a Top-Level Domain (.mobi and .pro, for instance).

Country-code Top-Level Domain Names (ccTLDs)

The ccTLDs, or country-code Top-Level Domain Names, are country-specific domains. Each country has its own ccTLD. Opting for such a domain name is good if your target group of website visitors is from a given country. Many individuals would prefer to purchase goods or services from a local web site, and if your goal is Canada, for example, selecting a .ca domain name could boost the visits to your site.

Domain Redirection

You can register a bunch of TLDs, which can redirect your visitors to a certain web site like domain.com, for instance. This would boost the traffic and reduce the probability of someone swiping your visitors by registering the same SLD with another Top-Level Domain Name - if you are not using a trademark.

Name Servers (NSs)

Each and every domain has domain name records. The name server records (NS records, a.k.a. DNS records) disclose where the domain name is hosted, in other words they point to the web hosting supplier whose name servers (NSs, aka DNSs) it is utilizing now. You can change the NSs of your domain at any time. You can have your domain name registered with one company and get the web hosting service itself from another. Thus, if you register your domain name and come across good website hosting services somewhere else afterwards, you can point your domain name to the current provider's DNSs straight off.

Domain Name Server Records (NS Records)

On the whole, as long as your domain name utilizes a particular pair of NSs, all its name server records will direct to the same web hosting distributor. Some website hosting suppliers, however, enable you to edit specific DNS records, including the A records and the MX records of your domain name. The A record is an IP address, which designates on which web hosting server your web page is situated, while the MX records exhibit which hosting server tackles the e-mail addresses related to your domain name. For instance, if you hire a new web page designer and he designs an .ASP web site that will be accommodated on his private Windows web hosting server, you may wish to edit only the IP address (the A record) but not the MX records of your domain. In this way, www.domain.com will direct to the Windows web server, but your email address accounts 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 designed by Microsoft and requires a Windows hosting server, although a Linux hosting server would be far more dependable.

Cut-Price Top-Level Domains Supplied by 'WiseHost.ca'

Only a few web hosting companies permit you to edit specific name server records and very often this an additional paid service. With us, you have a vast selection of Top-Level Domains to pick from and you can edit all domain name server records or forward the domains via a redirection tool at no added cost.