Difference between Domain Name, Web Hosting, and Website, how they relate to each other?

Often people asked what is the difference between a Domain Name, Web Hosting, and Website. How are all related to each other? Just to clarify all they are separate from each other.  This guide will help you to understand the difference and relations between these. First, we will explain the difference between a domain name and web hosting and Website, then we will discuss how they are related to each other.

Domain Name, Web Hosting, and Website

1. Difference between Domain name, Web Hosting, and Website.

To understand differences we need to understand their definition first: let’s find out.

What is a Domain Name?

Domain Name is a website address or URL that people see in the browsers. It is invented because any website name will be pointing to an IP address like 192.168.1.1 and remembering this entire number is very difficult for anyone. Domain names make it easy to remember a name like google.com or any other website's name. It makes people easy to search or find any website using the browser on the internet.

Domain mane is your House name as explained in the above diagram

For example Domain name:    Google.com            

Domain name or URL

Let understand how it works in detail, it all starts with the internet.

Internet is nothing but a big network of computers that are connected to each other. To find a computer in this big internet network all computers will be assigned a unique number that is called IP address and this will make it easy to recognize them in the computer network world. An IP address is a unique combination of numbers separated by dots.

For example IP address:  10.192.1.2

Computers don’t have a problem recognizing and memorizing these numbers. Though, it is highly difficult for humans to remember and use these IP address numbers to link or find a website on the internet.

To solve this problem domain name comes into the picture as you can say it is invented. So the domain name using words and letter make it easy for a human to remember the website name. If you want to find any website on the internet no need to type any IP address (number), instead you can use the domain name, for example, gmail.com or a similar website.

Note: Just to make clear one more thing you can use IP address as well to find any website using a browser.

What is Web Hosting?

Web Hosting

Web hosting is the space or place where all the impotent files of your website store and provide a platform to host your website. In a simple way, we can say the Domain name is the name of your house (website) and Hosting is a plot where you build your house (hosting website).

Web hosting nothing but a plot of your website as shown in the above diagram.

There is much hosting company which provides you web hosting feature with the website builder tool or application. They are specialized in these services and they offer multiple hosting plans as per customer requirements. Some Plans will be fixed but some will be fully customizable.

What is a Website?

A website is nothing but web pages that have readable and related content (Information) which can be searched using the domain name. 

In simple words, the website is a page that shows your information.

For examples are google.com, wikipedia.org, and etc.

You can say it is a home where you stay or display your work as shown in the above diagram.

2. How Domain Names, Web Hosting, and Websites are related?

Domain names, web hosting, and websites are different services. Though, they work together to make websites visible in the internet world. Mainly without domain names, it is not possible for anyone to find your website, similarly, without web hosting you cannot store a website and without a website, you can’t share your information.

In short:

When somebody types the domain name in a browser, the domain name will be converted into the IP address by computer and send to the destination computer where your website is hosted (web hosting company’s computer) then the information will be sent back to the user’s computer browsers.

Some frequently asked questions explain below:

What is the domain?

A domain is nothing but a group of computers that connect and can be accessed and administered with some set of instructions.

Domain

What is the URL?

URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It is the address of a given website. URLs are also known as web addresses or internet addresses.

URL

For an Example URL: https://www.keymousehub.blogspot.com or https://www.youtube.com

What is a Browser?

A browser or web browser is software (application) to access or find information on WWW (World Wide Web). Some of the common browsers are Microsoft Edge, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and etc…

Browser

If I build a Website do I need a Domain Name or Web Hosting?

You can build your website without domain mane and Webhosting if you have HTML and bit coding knowledge.

If you want your website existence on the Internet then domain name and web hosting are musts. Purchasing a domain name or having a domain name only gives you the privilege to use that specific name of your website and no other person will be there with the same name on the internet for a specific period of time.

One more advantage of Webhosting is they have an inbuilt website builder with easy templates and also stores your website files. Once you get a website hosted you need to add your domain name in the settings to point it to your web hosting provider.

The domain name and Web hosting, do I have to buy them together? Or can I buy them separately?

It’s not mandatory to buy together, it depends on you. Few points are to be considered.

If you are buying using two different companies then just have to point your domain name to your Webhosting company using a DNS setting.

Well, if you purchase both domain name and web hosting from the same company, then they will do the DNS setting and the advantage is on the same dashboard you can manage or renew the services.

Note: Can consider which option is the cost-effective and easy for you especially for beginners.

Can we move the Domain Name to a different company service provider?

Yes, you can move your domain name. Usually, when you register the domain name, you get the right to transfer or use it anywhere you want. Normally companies will have step by step instructions on their website; you can follow and transfer your domain name.

Note: Few Points to consider before transferring the domain name. Please check the guidelines after how many days you can transfer, because you may lose your fee for the particular year.

Can I move my website to another web hosting company without changing the domain?

Yes, you can move your website to another Web Hosting company without changing the Domain. In the domain name set, you can change and point it to the web hosting company you want.

I hope this article helps you learn the difference between a domain name, web hosting, and a website.

How to Create a Website?

3Steps to create a Website. Click here to check the detail.

You can try Bluehost to check for the best offer.

I hope this article will help you to understand in a simple way.