Domain names? Web hosting??
I's OK if you don't know the difference between these two things - a lot of people don't.
When you're in the market for a website, all the different terminology can get a bit overwhelming.
Luckily, I'm here to help explain it all in simple terms!
What is domain hosting?
A domain name is the address of your website that appears in the URL bar of your web browser.
For example, the domain of my own website is www.heathcote.co.nz
Your domain name is an easy way for people to find your website in the rather vast internet.
You will need to select your own domain name if you don't already have one. These domain names have to be unique.
When you have a website I've designed for you on Rocketspark, you'll need to select a domain name in the process of making your site live, if you don't already have one.
To be able to keep using your domain name, you need to pay for it. This is where the hosting part comes in - domain hosting is essentially reserving your domain name for you, so nobody else can use it.
Rocketspark will host your domain name for the price of $35+gst per year - but the first year is free!
What is web hosting?
Web hosting allows your website to take up space on the internet.
As every site comprises of a certain amount of data, files etc, they use up space on the internet.
So, for example, when someone navigates to your website which is hosted with Rocketspark, they will see all your content, images etc. All of this is displayed thanks to Rocketspark's hosting, which displays the data, files etc in the way you see it on your site.
Summary
There's quite a simple analogy which helps to sum this up
Your domain name is like the address of your house, while the web hosting is your physical house.
As always, if you need any more information on anything website related, give me a shout!
