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There is an inseparable link between a domain name and web hosting. Although they are separate entities, they are both essential for having your own website or online shop.
However, your goal should always decide, so it is very important to choose the right domain name and hosting to suit your specific needs; these can be purchased together or separately, whichever is more convenient for you.
The domain name determines the address of our website
As mentioned in the introduction, a domain name and hosting are essential for launching a website. If either of these is missing from the equation, you cannot have your own website, online shop or, more generally, a proper online presence.
In this context, the domain name refers to the address that will serve as the name and contact details of your future website. There are several key considerations when choosing a domain name, which we have discussed on several previous occasions; therefore, we will focus here only on the most fundamental points.
Factors to consider here include the clarity of the domain name and its close connection to our future brand and company name, but it is also worth paying attention to alternative domain names and the availability of specific extensions, as a .hu extension is sufficient for a Hungarian audience, but if we’re looking to expand abroad, then .eu and .com must also feature on the list as a matter of course.
However, a domain name on its own merely provides us with an address; to exaggerate slightly, it is as if we were to address a letter but never post it, because there is nowhere to post it from or to. It is web hosting that provides this infrastructure for our website!
Web hosting provides space for our website
As the name suggests, hosting is essentially nothing more than a server which, for larger projects, can be provided as a dedicated server, whilst for smaller websites it can also provide the space – in the form of shared resources – that physically hosts our website.
Even a small website can contain several hundred megabytes of data. This needs to be uploaded somewhere so that it can be accessed from anywhere in the world. With web hosting, you can rent the resources of a server that runs continuously, which reliably supports this.
When choosing a web hosting provider, there are a great many specifications to take into account – it’s worth seeking advice – as deciding based on storage size alone is by no means sufficient. In most cases, it is the extra services that make or break a hosting plan, whether it’s security, functionality or email – after all, a web hosting provider can also handle a company’s email.
So why is it important to link it to a domain name? Because once we’ve uploaded our finished website to the web hosting service, no one other than ourselves will be able to access it, unless they have specific access rights.
In order for this uploaded website to be accessible on the internet and viewable and usable from anywhere in the world, a domain name is required; once linked to the hosting service, this enables visitors to view our content and services from any browser.