Website Hosting and Domain Names

It's easy to get overwhelmed with all the technical jargon used to describe websites and how they work. This page was created to help explain a couple of these terms a little better. When putting your website up on the Internet, there are two basic terms that you will want to be familiar with: website hosting and your domain name.

Website Hosting is the act of storing (or "hosting") your website's files on a constantly running computer server, for display on the Internet. It also usually includes things like email accounts, extra file storage space, spam filtering, databases, etc. Hosting usually costs about $75-$100/yr. A couple good companies that offer hosting are GoDaddy.com and Bluehost.com.

Your Domain Name, on the other hand, is simply the name of your website. For example, this site's domain name is SteinerDesigns.com. Domain names usually cost about $12-$15/yr. You can register your domain with a number of different companies out there, and you don't necessarily have to host your website with the same company. Generally speaking, however, it is easiest to keep your domains and hosting accounts together in one place.

If you are a business owner, it is a good idea to have your hosting and domain registered under YOUR name. That way, you will always have access to (and control of) your website. I can't tell you how many times I've received this phone call: "My web designer dropped off the face of the earth, and my website is about to expire! Can you help me?" Another call I get a lot sounds like this: "My web designer hasn't been returning my calls, and I really need to update my site, but I don't have access to my account. What can I do?" This can all be prevented if your domain and hosting are set up under your name. Just be sure to keep your login info in a safe place, because you will need it later.

Steiner Designs is happy to help set up your website and hosting for you, so you don't have to deal with it. If you decide to do it yourself and want a little help along the way, that's fine, too. Call today at (916) 247-3065, or fill out the form on this page to get the process started.