What is the difference between web hosting and domain name?
Last Updated on 30th December 2020 by Ajmer Singh
Most beginners are confused about the difference between domain and web hosting. They often think they are the same. This article on the difference between domain and web hosting should guide you.
Before I dive deep, I will love to give a brief definition of some terms.
What is a Domain Name?
A domain is the address of your website on the internet, like google.com, facebook.com. It’s the name internet users type into the search query that leads them to your site.
Internet addresses are a long series of technical numbers like 192.68.249 that makes no meaning to humans.
Computers do not have difficulty in identifying and memorizing these numbers. However, humans have difficulty in remembering these numbers.
To avert this situation, Domain names were invented.
A Domain name is made up of two main part;
The first part is called the brand name.
It can be a mixture of numbers and letters.
while the second part which is denoted by a dot is called the domain extension like .com, .org, .com.ng, .co.uk.
Your domain name is a unique web address and is restricted to only you.
Like findmytricks.com, there can be only one findmytricks.com in the world.
It then means you cannot register a name once it is registered by others.
After acquiring the domain, it is possible to create domains within the main domain name and they are referred to and known as subdomains. You can also build the complete websites under these subdomains and one domain can have multiple subdomains created. A typical subdomain will have the name followed by a period and the domain name
What is Web Hosting?
Web hosting is the place where you store all of your stuff. (or like the place where you can store all of your content and files of your website)
It is the home of your website.
A web hosting can be described as the house or home of your website and the domain, as the address leading to your home (web hosting)
Web hosting serves as the warehouse of a website, it’s a place where all the files and data of your website are stored.
Difference Between Domain And Web hosting
Domain name and web hosting are two different things, however, they are inter-related.
Without a domain name and web hosting, a website cannot be created.
To get started visit a domain registrar to choose and register your domain name.
Most domain companies allow you to register a domain name for a year, after which you renew once it expires.
Once your domain is registered, you can buy a hosting plan from a hosting service provider like Cloudways and link your domain with it.
You can choose to buy a domain and hosting from the same hosting service provider.
Similarly, you can also buy a domain and hosting from different companies.
Note that getting a domain and hosting from the same company makes the setup process more easier as you don’t have to alter anything on the domain name settings.
Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting service provider that offers both domain and hosting services at a fair price.
They take away the complexities that come with setting up a website via their web host services that allow you to create and set up a website within minutes.
Read our article on siteground vs cloudways hosting review 2021
Cloudways, unlike other hosting services, offer a 3-days free without requesting your bank details.
They also offer a “pay as you go” billing for their hosting plan which makes it easy for you to unsubscribe if you become dissatisfied with their services.
Migration from a different hosting provider to Cloudways is entirely free.
They have a total of 4 different hosting monthly plans to choose from depending on your budget.
Their hosting plan ranges from as low as $10 to $80 per month and each price has its RAM, processor, and storage.
findmytricks.com recently migrated to cloudways and from what we have observed, I will advise you subscribe to it.
Can I retain my domain name while I migrate from one hosting to another?
Yes, you can, the domain name belongs to you and you can transfer it to any hosting service you want by changing the DNS settings to point to the hosting service you are migrating to.
Let’s say you bought a domain and hosting from siteground and now you want to transfer your hosting to cloudways.
What you need to do is to transfer your files and data from siteground to cloudways, edit your domain name settings to point to your new web hosting provider.
Another instance is that you bought your domain name from wordpress.com, and you now want to move to wordpress.org.
The first thing that needs to be done in this instance is that you should sign up for a WordPress hosted account.
After which you transfer your site from wordpress.com to wordpress.org.
Read our article on the difference between wordpress.com and wordpress.org
Finally, make an edit of your domain name settings on wordpress.com and redirect them to your new hosting provider.
Can I transfer my domain name to a different domain registrar?
Yes, you can, you own your domain name and the right to transfer it to a different company at any point whatsoever.
For instance, I bought a domain name from Siteground and hosting from cloudways, I now want to transfer my domain name from siteground to cloudways to make settings and subscriptions a lot easier.
It is easy to do that, both hosting services would have a detailed step by step procedure that you can follow on how to do that.
I hope you have been able to learn the difference between domain and web hosting from this article?
Have any recommendations, questions, and suggestions? kindly use the comment section.
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Ajmer Singh is the Founder & Author of Findmytricks. He is a passionate blogger and with the help of his articles, you can learn WordPress & Blogging in a simple way.
CONTACT: support@findmytricks.com
Life Motto:
1. “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
2. “First, learn the rules, then break them”
