A domain name?
A hosting account?
What are these and why do I need them to have a website?
We hear these questions often from clients who are confused about the cost of purchasing a domain name, setting up a hosting account and the necessity of paying to have them each renewed yearly. So, we thought we’d put together a brief, simple explanation. Simply put, a domain name and hosting server are both necessary in order to make your website visible to internet users. Here’s why…
What is a Domain?
- A domain name is what a user types in to easily locate your website, such as yourcompany.com.
- A domain name is customized so that it closely relates to your business or the content of your website.
- A domain name must be purchased to avoid duplicates.
- Without a domain name, your site will be located at a temporary url such as 476.792.469/~genericsite. As you can see, this address would be burdensome to include in marketing materials, difficult for users to remember, and a temporary url is not going to pop up in search results.
What happens if it expires?
The day that your domain name expires, it begins quite a process and can take at least 80 days before it can be repurchased, as demonstrated in this infographic from icann.org.
Some domain registrars will charge extra to pull it out of the grace period. If it does end up getting picked up by someone else, you will be forced to assign a new domain name to your website. Marketing materials will need to be updated and you will need to start over with your SEO efforts in order to push the new domain up in search results.
What is Web-Hosting?
- Web-hosting is the space where your website lives.
- The files for your website reside on a server. We call this server your website’s host.
- A hosting account is a paid service because your website files are taking up limited space, much like rent for an office space.
What happens if it expires?
When your hosting account expires, your domain will no longer be able to connect with the files that make up your website and the site will shut down, much like a disconnected phone line.
Once the hosting provider deactivates the account, usually within 24 hours, the files may not be able to be recovered and the investment made on the website will be lost. Some companies may offer a grace period but charge a hefty fee to retrieve the files.
Each hosting company has their own policies in place and, if your site is hosted by a company other than Adroit Creative Solutions, there is nothing we can do to assist you once the hosting company terminates your account.
To put our customers at ease, Adroit Creative Solutions offers domain purchasing and renewal services and safe, secure high-performance hosting. We provide timely reminders and do everything we can to help ensure that our clients do not have face the challenges that come with an expired domain name or hosting account. Contact us to learn more: 303-218-5287