When it comes to launching your website, one crucial decision to make is whether to have your domain and web hosting services from the same provider or different ones.
Many business owners may not realise that these are separate services, which can make the decision overwhelming.
So, let’s break it down.
Your domain name is what makes your site visible on the web, acting as the street address (URL) for your site. It’s essential because without it, your site has nowhere to live.
On the other hand, web hosting allows your website’s content to be accessible on the internet, acting as the house located at the actual street address. When you purchase web hosting, you’re essentially renting space on a physical server to store all your website’s files and data.
Some advantages of keeping your domain and website hosting separate
1) It keeps your domain secure. Having your domain and website hosting with one provider means that all your eggs are in one basket. So if something goes wrong, you may lose your domain. If your domain name is with an external domain provider, it will not be affected by anything that may go wrong with your hosting provider.
2) It is easier to change web hosting. Having your domain with a separate provider means that you always have full control over what happens to your website. So if you ever want to change your hosting, it can be done easily by changing the settings on your domain name.
3) It allows you to choose your preferred email provider. For example, you could use one provider for your hosting and another for your email. Both of these options are controled by your domain name settings.
There are some disadvantages of separating your domain provider and website hosting
If you are not very tech savvy, separating your domain name and website hosting can be a bit overwhelming. The domain control dashboard can be intimidating and there are lots of technical settings of which you need to be aware.
Having separate accounts for your domain name and website hosting may cost you more. On the other hand, some providers offer bundled packages that include both domain registration and hosting which can save you money.
Summary
Whether to keep domain and web hosting separate or bundled together depends on your specific needs and preferences. At BookWebs, we offer website hosting and domain name registration as part of all our packages which is useful for those who are not tech savvy. However, we are equally happy for you to register your own domain name. But will will need the login details of your domain name provider so we can login and point your name at your website so everytyhing works as it should.