In this article, we will cover the differences between a domain name, a web hosting plan, and a website.
A domain name is the address of a website. It is the URL that a visitor types on a browser. It also helps us navigate the internet easily instead of memorizing the IP address of the website. When a site visitor enters your domain name into a browser, the domain is then translated into a server IP address. The server sends that user your site files, which their browser represents as a typical web page.
A domain name consists of two parts: Top Level Domain (TLD) and second-Level Domain (SLD). For example, on the domain “wplh.com,” the SLD is “wplh,” while the “.com” is the TLD.
Example of TLDs:
Things to remember in choosing a domain name for your website:
For domain name registration, you can register a domain name for a minimum of 12 months. There is no perpetual domain ownership. You have the option to register the domain name for multiple years. Then you will need to renew the domain name at the end of its term.
Web hosting is a technology that is needed for your website to be accessible online publicly or privately. The web-hosting or server is much like the space that you rent for your business. It's merely space itself. It does not include furnishings, like shelves, for your products, just as the web-hosting account doesn't add a site for you to sell your products.
Without the hosting services, you won't have a place for your files to reside, so your domain would become like a disconnected phone number in the phone directory, and your site files would have nowhere to stay. Without web hosting, your website will not have an online presence.
A website is a collection of pages related to the domain. It consists of texts, media, links, and other visual content and allows the public to navigate around it for information. The most common landing pages are google.com, yahoo.com. These pages constitute the World Wide Web (www). To access a website, a visitor needs to type the domain name in a browser’s address bar, and the browser will interpret and display the corresponding main web page or what we call, the homepage.
More info:
Can you buy a domain from one company and use it at another web host?
You can register a domain name from a different domain registrar and point it to a server you purchased from another company. It is only a matter of pointing your domain to the correct server through the DNS records.
Can you buy web hosting without a domain name?
While many hosting packages offer a domain name as an inclusion, you can still choose to purchase only the hosting plan. However, to host a website, you still need a domain name. You can purchase a domain name separately with the same hosting company or through a different registrar. There is no definite rule to purchasing a domain name and a hosting plan from only one company.
What is the difference between a web server and a web host?
These two are always being used interchangeably; however, they have different functions.
A web server is a physical computer or machine where you can process, store, and deliver web pages. It distributes these web pages to viewers as they are being called out through a browser.
Managing a web server is a lot of work, and this is something a web host does. A web host is a company offering the service of hosting your sites through their web servers. They are also responsible for keeping the web servers running smoothly, maintaining and protecting them from malicious attacks, so the websites in these servers are up at all times.
