You use the internet every day, and chances are you know more about how this amazing “world wide web” works than you might think.
I wanted to take it a step further into explaining the differences between domains and hosts.
Domain Names
Computers communicate with each other by using numbers, called IP addresses. You can purchase a domain name for a yearly fee that is customized to your specific business. for example ‘mydomain.com’ – without a domain name you would tell your customers and friends that your website was located at 123.456.789.123/~website but doing so is confusing and impractical to expect someone to remember.
Hosting
A host is a company that offers server space for you to store your files that contain the content for your site. Your CMS, images and all general data.
So you need to have your domain name point to the files that are hosted by your hosting provider. To have a properly working site, you must pay for both services. Some companies, like SiteGround, offer both services making it easier to manage.
We recommend purchasing the domain and hosting together if you need both. You can get a Discount on your first payment (so paying for a couple years upfront is the best value). Here is our affiliate link. Link to SiteGround
