Anyone and everyone who uses the internet come across terms such as website, domain name, and hosting. Chances are you must be using these terms on a routine basis while talking to your colleagues. A Website, Domain Name or Web Hosting. What’s the difference? If you have a website, you best ensure that you and other users can access it.
While all these terms are interrelated, yet they are far from being similar. In simple language, a website is what you see when you type the name of a website in the address bar. The name that you type is called the domain name, and the place where all the pages that you see while navigating through the website are called the host.
To get a clearer idea of what all these terms mean, let’s take a brief yet insightful look at these terms individually. Read along…
A website, Domain Name or Web Hosting. What’s the difference? If you have a website, you best ensure that you and your visitors can access it.
WEBSITE
A website contains files such as index.html, index.php, images, .css files, and a database to keep a record of these files. If you own a website, you must ensure that you and other users can access it all around the clock, throughout the year.
HOSTING
Hosting is the space that you buy on a server to store all the files and database. If you have a website but no space to store your files, visitors and search engines won’t be able to view the content of your website.
I.P. ADDRESS
When an internet user wants to visit your website, he must know the I.P. address. Internet Protocol is the address of the server which has hosted the files of your website. For example, if you type 173.194.70.113 on your browser’s address bar, you’ll land on Google’s homepage.
Now if you come to think about it, can you really remember all the I.P. addresses of all the websites? Since the answer is obviously no, this is where Domain Name comes to your rescue. A domain name makes it easier for a visitor to remember your website. In the above example, if you type the given I.P. address or google.com, these both options will land you on the same page.
DOMAIN NAME
It’s not compulsory to have a domain name, but if you opt for not using a domain name, people will face a hard time remembering your site’s IP address and visit your page.
When people talk about getting a website registered, or purchasing a domain name, or choose a hosting service, do you know the difference? #webdesign Click To TweetNow is the time when we should talk about some basic tips for building a good website. First of all, the name of the website should be easy to remember and depict the nature of your business. The moment people look at your website’s domain name they should be able to catch it in an instant what it is going to all about.
And always, always go for a hosting service provider who offers you a maximum uptime for your website. The speed of the server also matters a lot. The faster your server is, the quicker your website will load on your visitor’s screen. Many good sites have suffered the loss of being hosted by an inefficient server. Speed matters, and you just can’t stay behind.
