Most technical terms are similarly associated, such as a domain name and web hosting but they are not the same.
The domain name is the website address that people type into the URL bar of the browser to access the website. Basically, the internet is a global network of computers connecting by cables to each other. To recognize them quickly, a sequence of numbers called an IP address is allocated to each device. This IP address is a dot-divided mixture of digits. IP addresses usually look like this: 66.249.66.11.
Computers have no issue with these numbers being known and recalled. However, to link to websites on the internet, it is difficult for humans to know and use these numbers. Domain names were invented to fix this concern. A domain name should have phrases that make website addresses easy to recall.
There are primarily two parts of a domain name separated by a dot. The first part is your company name, while the second part is a domain extension such as .com, .org, .net, .com.uk, .asia, etc. Example is shinrai.asia.
Web hosting is where all of the website's files work. It's like the website's base, where it really lives. A simple way to think about this is that the house's address is the domain name, then web hosting is the real house to which the address refers. Both online websites require web hosting.
The domain name is converted into the IP address of the device of your web hosting firm as someone enters your domain name into the browser. This device holds files for your website, and sends those files back to the browsers of the users. If a user wants to visit your website by entering your web address (domain name) in the URL bar of the browser, the domain name refers to the files that are located on the web server. They can see the website online then.
Two different resources are domain names and web hosting. However, in order to make websites possible, they work together.
A domain name system is actually like a huge address book which is continually modified. Behind each domain name, there is a web hosting service address that holds the files of the website. Without domain names, it would not be easy for users to reach your website, because you will not create a website without web hosting.
It required both a domain name and a web hosting account to create a website. Purchasing a domain name and register it with a domain register company to get started. Next, file a domain name for a period of 1 year in most domain companies. Before expire, need to upgrade the domain to continue using it.
Hosting service can be bought and connected to the domain name, hold the website's files, you need web hosting. You must change your domain name settings after you get hosting and point it to your provider of web hosting services.
Both the domain and hosting can also be bought from the same company. A domain name usually costs $14.99 / year, and web hosting commonly costs $7.99 / month. This may sound like a lot if launching the first website.
Thankfully, Bluehost, an approved hosting company suggested by WordPress, has decided to give our customers a free domain name and a web hosting discount of over 60%. Install applications on website (such as WordPress), install tools and plugins, and add content to the website.
Buy them together? Or can buy them separately?
The domain name and web hosting can be bought from two separate organizations. In that case, though, by editing the DNS settings, you would need to point your domain name to your web hosting organization. You would not have to change the domain name settings if you buy the domain name and web hosting from the same provider. Management and renewal of all services under the same dashboard is therefore much smoother.
To point out to some web hosting firm, you own the domain name and can change the settings. You bought your domain name and hosting from a former company , for example, and now you want to switch your web hosting to another company. By simply copying files and data, you can switch your site from one host to the other. You need to edit your domain name settings after that and point them to your new provider for web hosting.
Some other example is that you bought the WordPress.com domain name (see our guide on the distinction between WordPress.com and WordPress.org). You'll want to switch to the self-hosted WordPress.org website later on. First, you would need to sign up for a hosting account for WordPress. You can then switch the website from WordPress.com to WordPress.org after that. Finally, on WordPress.com, you'll just edit your domain name settings and point them to your new WordPress hosting provider.