You have a great business idea or you are just about to start a new business, and you know you need a website, but you aren’t sure where to start. You know you need to buy a name for your site, but what next?
It can feel overwhelming when starting, especially as a website isn’t the only thing you need to start your business. Words like “domain” and “hosting” are foreign or have been explained, but they don’t make much sense.
Don’t fear, read on to get a clear understanding of what you need to get you started!
What exactly are these “Domain” and “Hosting” things?
You probably asked yourself such a question while planning to build your website. Your website’s domain name and its web host are the foundation that holds your information together when you publish it on the internet. Without these, your website can not run. So…
What Is a Website Domain?
A website domain or domain name is the exact location or address of your website. For you to have a website, it needs to have an address. Much like in real life, you also need to have a name for your address. That is why it is called a “domain name.”
A domain name is a unique name, that once registered, is reserved for you to use and no one else. A domain is marked as not available if someone else has registered to use it.
A website domain name has two parts. For you to quickly understand them, let us use “facebook.com” as an example:
- Second-level Domain (SLD) – your SLD would be the name of your company, blog, store, or whatever it is you run on your website. For our example, the SLD is “Facebook.”
- Top-level Domain (TLD) – also known as ‘domain suffix,’ your TLD is the trailing portion of your domain. For the example we used, the TLD is “.com.” The other original top-level domains are “.gov, .org, .net, .mil, .edu, and .int.
You can search for your unique name via a “domain search”, and it’s advisable to purchase it quickly if you want to guarantee that you get the one you want – there is a no-holds policy on domains.
What is Hosting?
Web hosting enables your files that create your website (codes, images, etc.) to be available for viewing online. If your web domain is your website’s address, hosting is your website’s house. Simply, having an address is never enough if you do not have somewhere to store your goods. This explanation shows the importance of web hosting.
How do you get one? When you want to create your website, you should contact a hosting provider. The provider allocates space on a web server, enabling you to store your website’s files online. The next step would be choosing the appropriate affordable web hosting plans for your website. Cheaper is not always best in this situation. Investing in a good web host is essential for any business since this is where all of your customers visit. Make sure you consider your options such as bandwidth and downtime. Need to know more? Look out for our upcoming blog posts on this topic.
Do you need a website domain and hosting?
Yes, your website wouldn’t exist without a domain and host.
We know the struggle of learning and completing all of these things alone. It is overwhelming to understand and do everything for your business brand. From setting up a website domain to getting a host, we can help you build your company! Check out Design Grid Digital Marketing today and get a FREE consultation from our web experts.
