I was talking to a client trying to explain that I didn’t control their domain name just because I built their site. He was really confused, and it reminded me that this web stuff is really confusing when you don’t do it every day. The two things you need when you want to have a website for your business are a domain name and a host. Here is my little breakdown of what those mean and how to get started.
Domain Name – Every website has a domain name. This is the name people type in to get to your site. Mine is tipsystudio.com. There are lots of sites like Name Cheap and GoDaddy that you can buy your domain name from.
Hosting – This is your server where all of the files(pages, images, content)are stored.
After you have your domain name registered through a company, you have to set up the name servers (this name’s the server). The name servers are like an address for your host that tells where to find the files for your website. You can set up your domain and hosting through the same company like Bluehost.com, or GoDaddy.com, or they can be through different companies. Let’s say you bought your domain name. Then found a web designer to build your site. The web designer can set up your site with any host and give the company who registered your domain name the address ( name servers) where they set up your site.
I hope this makes things easier to understand. And of course, you can set this up yourself or get your web designer to do this for you. Just remember to keep your domain and host provider, your username, and password handy to pass along to your web designer.