What is the difference between domain registration and website hosting?

The internet is a large and confusing cyberworld. In order for the public to view your website, it needs to be…well visible.

One of the first steps in the website building process is not actually choosing a theme or beginning the design it is:

choosing and purchasing a domain name and
a domain hosting service (a host) – a place where the website will reside.

What is the difference between a domain and a host?

Here’s an analogy Bruce likes to use for registration and hosting:

Registration (like DMV for a car – this globally establishes your ownership of the domain name a.k.a. URL.)

Hosting (like the garage where you physically keep your car; it can include maintenance and other services)

DOMAIN REGISTRATION:
A domain name is a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) and it is the address of a World Wide Web page. For example, our IDS site domain name is “intent-design-studio.brucerawles.com” This is the name you type into the browser address bar to locate our site. The browser locates the website with this address/domain name. Consider it your website’s street address on the internet, if you will.

When you purchase a domain it needs to be registered to you. This is called domain registration. We have used BlueHost for many years and the company we use to purchase our domain names and register them as well. They have no charge for a domain name if you purchase hosting from them as well. That is $0 cost for domain registration. Saves you money! We all like that!

WEBSITE HOSTING:
A web host provides space on a secured server or group of secured servers. This hosting space allows the website to reside online for others to view. We also use BlueHost for our web hosting. Currently, BlueHost is charging $3.95 a month for hosting IF you purchase for 3 years. Great buy! Save more money. Yeah! Happy dance here.