Domains v Web Hosting v Web Development – What’s the difference?
So you’ve decided to get a website? Sounds like a good idea. Now what?
Step 1: Register a domain name ( this will be your website name EG: www.hosting-australia.com)
Step 2: Sign up with a web host ( company that will run your website on their servers to allow it to be live to the world wide web)
Step 3: Get a web developer to build your site ( a web developer builds your website. They may or may not also host websites but their specialty is building sites. )
That’s it.
Wait What?
Q: Do I have to do all this myself?
A: you can but you don’t have to.
Each one of those steps are essentially 3 separate products and you need them all to get your website and/ or emails to work.
You can go register your own domain with a registrar. There are many out there but Hosting Australia uses synergywholesale.com
Then you need to find someone to build your website. Again many web design and development companies out there.
Finally you need someone to Host your website and / or emails.
This is where most people get into trouble. A lot of people do it this way and its fine but you need to keep track of what you have and who manages it for you and be aware of when things expire so you don’t lose it all. You can essentially have 3 different providers for 3 different products.
OR
Call a company that does it all for you. Hosting Australia can manage all your hosting requirements. We can register a domain for you or if you already have one we can transfer it over so we can manage it for you. Most importantly we ARE a web hosting company so this is where we excel.
This means everything is managed under one roof and you get one Invoice. Rather than having to deal with 3 different companies or even have to worry about when to renew your services because we do all that for you.
Finally you may need a website. You can get anyone to do this and then upload it to your host. Hosting Australia can help with this too. We have our own dedicated web development team that can help you with your new site and set it up hassle free.
Who you choose to do all of the above is up to you but always get the right advise or you may get stuck with something that doesn’t suit or worse, support that doesn’t exist.
A final checklist may help.
- Do I get support
- Can I speak to someone that I can understand.
- Where are the servers and the company based. (if you are in Australia do you prefer your hosting to be in Australia too?)
- (Pricing is pretty similar for most hosting companies unless they have a promotion but if the above 3 options are important to you then does the cheapest option offer what you need.
Contact Hosting-Australia if you have any questions