Feedback Form
Home Features Mastermind Videos About Advertise Blog Network Contact
   

Have A Suggestion?
Toronto Salsa Classes / Toronto Salsa Lessons Email us your ideas on how to make our website more valuable! Thank you Sharon from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for your suggestions to make the newsletter look like the website and profile younger entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez and Sean Combs!
Have A Suggestion?

Featured Ebook


ebook Famous Entrepreneurs - Modern Empire Builders


Featured Ebook

More Evan Carmichael
Have A Suggestion?

Sales Lessons From Starbucks And Dell

The Relationship Between Domain Names and Hosting



The Relationship Between Domain Names and Hosting
   

Selecting a domain name can be a bit overwhelming since domain registrars often offer far more services than just domain names. Many offer "hosting" as well, so it helps to understand the relationship between domain names and hosting. Domain names and hosting are two completely separate products, but in the effort to sell the products together, domain registrars often just confuse people.

When you purchase Web site hosting, you are basically renting a folder on a computer (called a Web server) that is connected to the Internet. You pay a company a monthly or yearly fee to keep your Web site files online and safe from hackers and other online "bad guys." Although technically, you might be able to host a site yourself, the $10 or $20 a month you spend on hosting is money well spent. Keeping a Web server alive and well is not a trivial exercise, so leave this task to the techies who like that kind of thing.

It is important to understand the relationship between Web site hosting and domain names. A domain name basically points to a specific folder on a specific Web server. You can buy a domain name without buying hosting. Many people buy domain names long before they get around to creating a Web site. As soon as you think of a good name, spend the $8 and just buy the domain, so someone else doesn't get it.

Until you put up a site, the domain name points to a "parked page." This page is created by the domain registrar as a sort of holding spot until you buy hosting and get your site online. The parked page lets other people know that the domain isn't available anymore. After you develop a site, get hosting, and put your Web site files in your folder on the Web server, you change your domain to point to the site.

Note that you also can point more than one domain to the same Web site. If you decide to do this, you do not need to buy more hosting. Here are some questions to ask before you buy additional hosting.

1. Do you want another Web site? (A completely different site with different files.) For example, http://www.logicalexpressions.com and http://www.logicaltips.com are two completely different sites. They have two different domains, are located in different folders, and are made up of completely different files.

2. Do you want another domain name to point to the site you already have? For example, we have both http://www.cc-tips.com and http://www.logicaltips.com point to the same Web site. It is one folder with one set of files, yet two domains point to it.

If the answer to the question is 2, you do not need to purchase another hosting account. The files are already there in the folder. Generally, your hosting company should not charge you to point another domain to the same site. Hosting companies don't care how many domains you have pointing at a site. However, they do care if you have more than one Web site and will charge you accordingly.



The Relationship Between Domain Names and Hosting - To learn more about this author, visit Susan Daffron's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends
[Get Copyright Permissions] E-Mail | Print | More  


Related Articles Related Articles
The Relationship Between Domain Names and Hosting
  Domain names and hosting are two completely separate products. You can buy a domain name without buying hosting and vice versa.
What's a Domain Name Really Worth?
  Discover some of the key criteria that make a domain name more valuable than others.
Does a Domain Name Help with Higher Rankings?
  Based on the latest patent filing from Google the answer to this question is yes. Google states that how a site is hosted and the length of time that a domain name has been paid for does help in how a web site ranks...
What NOT to Choose as a Domain Name for Your Business
  Choosing a domain name for your business can be one of the most important decisions you make. You want something that relates to your business, is catchy and is easy to remember. Just keep in mind what you don't wan...
Cheap Domain Name Registration
  In recent years, many people have come up to me asking for really cheap domain name registration. They want to get the most for the least. While there are definitely some good bargains and deals out there, my questi...

Related Forum Posts Related Forum Posts
Re: When choosing a domain. Re: When choosing a domain.
Re: How Much Do You Need To Start? Re: How Much Do You Need To Start?
Re: Reliable Web Hosting Providers Re: Reliable Web Hosting Providers
URL change URL change
When choosing a domain. When choosing a domain.
Coming up with a domain name Coming up with a domain name
Re: URL change Re: URL change
Are hyphenated domain names better? Are hyphenated domain names better?

 
About the Author


Susan Daffron
(Visit Susan's Website)
Susan Daffron is the President of Logical Expressions, Inc. (www.logicalexpressions.com), a book and software publishing company in Sandpoint, Idaho. She is the coauthor of Web Business Success: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Web Sites that Work (www.WebBusinessSuccess.com) and several other books. She also has written more than 300 newspaper and national magazine articles and publishes three ezines.
Have A Suggestion?

View Author's Blog
Become An Author

View Author's Video
Become An Author

Free Downloads


Susan Daffron's

Complete
List Of
Technology
Articles

First Name
Last Name
Email
 
If you enjoyed this article, get Susan Daffron's Complete List of Technology Articles For FREE!

More Susan Daffron
The First Step to a Great Web Site Research
Before You Develop a Web Site Ask Yourself One Question
Web Site Content That Works
The Relationship Between Domain Names and Hosting
Who Are You
Selecting a Domain Name
Become An Author