In the internet ecosystem, if you want to understand the importance of a website for any business or even a non-profit organization, you should start with this line of thought- a website is the identity and the backbone of any company when it comes to its online presence. This is because, without a website, it would be hard to trust what the business or any organization stands for and what problem it commits to solve.  

A website is platform that communicates, informs and educates its visitors about the organization, its intentions, and what it aims to achieve. Even if it is a blog, it is written with a reason so as to bridge the gap between the visitor and the information or query the visitor is seeking about a particular topic or subject.  

The website has its own address which is in a numerical format, given the framework of the DNS. Since it would be difficult to understand the numbers of so many websites, a domain and a domain name had to be a part of the internet’s eco system so as to remember easily.  

But this is just an understanding if what a domain or a website is. There are things like email hosting, which also play a pivotal role for small business along with a domain and a website. In fact, small-medium businesses use it often unknowingly so many times after domain name registration, web hosting and website in place.  

Hence, it is important to understand what they are and what is the difference between them. So, if you want to understand what they are and how they can be of use to you, please keep reading.  

 

What precisely is a “domain name”? 

 

You may have put a name of a brand, company or even your favourite artist on Google’s Search bar, right? Now, if you do not know the name of the company but you still want to buy something you would search for that item. However, the search engine gives you a list of results that are nothing but pages from a domain. In fact, it is helping you with numerous addresses that can match your query. These addresses are noting but domains. 

An Internet Protocol, or IP, address may be created from a domain, which is a sequence of human-readable characters and numbers. For instance, Coolexample.com is an example of a domain. By typing your domain into the browser’s address bar, an internet user can be sent to your website. A domain is the exact location, or piece of ground, on which you will build your home. You may think of it as your house’s street address. To put it another way, an address and a domain are similar. 

You cannot visit this location unless a domain name has been registered with a domain registrar. A firm that is authorized to let members of the public register domain names is called a “domain registrar”. The person who first registers a domain name is referred to as the “registrant”. A registrant who pays a registration fee is able to keep their domain registered, but they also face the risk of losing it if they fail to make the payment on time. You will receive your very own domain name if you register your self with a domain and web hosting provider.  

 

…Okay, so what is a website and web hosting? 

 

Usually, a domain name is used to point to a website that is accessible to end users. Web hosting from a web hosting company is necessary to operate a website since it allows users to access the files and material on the website. A web hosting company stores and serves the data and files on your website, enabling you to make the content of your website accessible to visitors all over the world. 

It is likely that you registered your domain name with a different company than the one that hosts your website; as a result, you will need to know which company to contact for individual component control. For example, you should contact your domain name registrar if you need to change the contact details on your domain name; yet, you should contact your web host if you have a problem with a picture on your website. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with them with any inquiries you may have on this subject. For a number of reasons, some people prefer the division of these obligations, however many others think it is more convenient to have all aspects of their online presence handled by a single company. When choosing a web hosting plan from your provider, one definitely needs to ask them about 24/7 service and support in case there is any technical glitch or down time. Even if you want to scale your services, you should be able to avail their help in doing so. You can also host your SMB’s email for your employees with their help by getting and email hosting.  

 

But what is email hosting exactly? 

 

Many small-medium business need to communicate with their employees internally and externally and it does not make sense to do so on private email ids for privacy and professional concerns. This can happen if there are dedicated email addresses for employees with email space given and tools too that are hosted on a server.  

The practice of keeping your email messages and other data off of your local computer and on a remote server is known as email hosting. These servers are in charge of handling email sending and receiving. You have the choice of creating a custom email address that is connected to your domain or using free email hosting services like Gmail and Yahoo. 

You are free to choose from a variety of providers for web hosting, email hosting, and registered domain registration. You may also choose to perform all of your domain registration and web hosting with the same company; this option is usually available as part of a package.  

 

Why is it so important to tell them apart? 

 

Email addresses, websites, and domain names are all parts of a person’s overall online presence. Setting up a website and creating a custom email address requires domain ownership. Users may send emails to the personalized address you supply, and they can reach your website by typing your domain into their browser’s address bar. It is possible to own a domain without having a website or email account, but not being able to have either of those things prevents you from having a domain. 

Understanding the distinctions between your domain, web hosting, and email is essential for keeping tabs on your online presence. You must be able to pinpoint the potential source of a problem, such as figuring out if your domain or email are the source of the issue. If different companies are providing your domain, web hosting, and email services, you will need to know which one to contact to manage your services or fix any issues that may come up. 

 

As we close 

 

We would like to say that these aspects of the internet domain are very easy to use and even understand. However, the security of these aspects is important and starts from your involvement and engagement into the same. This starts by keeping your domain secure and then moving on to other aspects such as hosting too.  

BigRock is a reliable domain, web security and web hosting provider that offers 99.9% up-time, 24/7 support, high scalability and performance. In case you have any doubts, queries or feedback for this article, please share them in the comments section below.