Domain name vs web hosting: what’s the difference?

A domain name is the address people type to reach you. Web hosting is the server where the website’s files are kept. A website needs both, and they are two separate services, even when one company sells them on one invoice.

What each one is

• The domain name is a readable name such as example.com.au. You pay a registrar for the right to use it, for a year or more at a time.
• The hosting is rented space on a server that stores the site and sends it to visitors. You pay a hosting company for it.

If the hosting is the shop you rent, the domain name is the street address that lets customers find it.

How they are joined

The two are connected by DNS. Records on the domain say which server the name leads to, and the hosting company tells you what to put in them. The records, and the third company that sometimes holds them, are covered in What DNS is, and why your business depends on it.

This is the practical difference. Because the name only points at the server, you can move the website to a different host and keep the same address. The files move, the records are changed to point at the new server, and customers notice nothing. The same domain name usually carries your email as well, so the name matters to more than the website.

Together or apart

Many hosting companies are also registrars, so you can buy both in one place. That means one bill and one support desk. Buying them from different companies works just as well, and a later change of host then leaves the domain account untouched.

Whichever you choose, keep track of them as two things with two renewal dates. The hosting can be replaced. The name cannot, if someone else registers it after it lapses.

Who should hold the logins

The business should. If a web designer set up both accounts under their own name when the site was built, the business depends on that designer to renew the name and to reach the files. That holds only for as long as the designer is still trading and still answering.

auDA’s rules cover this for Australian names: a third party such as a web developer may register a com.au name for you only with your written permission, and it should be registered under your details.

1. Find out who the registrar is and who the host is. For a .au name, auDA’s WHOIS lookup shows the registrar.
2. Confirm the domain is registered to the business, with a contact email that someone reads. Renewal notices go to that address.
3. Make sure the business has its own login to both accounts. Your developer can still be given access.
4. Turn on multi-factor authentication on both, and list more than one person for renewal notices.