Domain Name And Hosting Explained!
If you’re brand new to the world of business and websites it’s not uncommon to get confused between a domain name and hosting – it’s easily done!
Many website companies will offer a domain name and hosting as part of their web design service and are often included in the price.
However it’s really important that you are clear on the purpose of each one and the differences before you begin building your site or paying a web designer to do so!
To understand it better think of hosting a house, a place where your website can live, a domain name is your phone number that can be taken with you if you move to a different address (hosting company)
What Is A Domain Name?
A domain name put in simple terms is the online address of a website or the url as people sometimes refer to it as.
This can be purchased by going to a domain name registrar. Prices vary depending on the domain name you choose but usually start off from around £10 per year.
It’s important to remember that once a domain name has been purchased it will need renewed on a yearly basis although sometimes there is the option to purchase more than one year when you register it – be sure to check with the registrar you are purchasing it from as this may vary.
Here are some of the most popular domain registrars
What Is Hosting?
Website hosting is essential, it’s the service on the internet that holds all the important information for your website such as files and images.
Without hosting your website will not show up on the internet and when the website address is typed into search engines visitors will be unable to see anything – a definite no no!
A web hosting will provide space on their server for your website to ‘stay’.
There are thousands of different website hosts with prices varying from free with very limited options to the more expensive that will provide a better range of services so it’s wroth shopping around to find the best deal for your business depending on the requirements you need.
Final Thought
A Domain Name And Hosting go hand in hand, one won’t work without the other. It’s always worth reading the small print before you go ahead with either to make sure you’re getting the best deal you can. As part of our web design service we offer free domain registration and 3 months free hosting as standard. To enquire about the above services drop us a message via our contact page.
