Every website needs both web hosting and a domain name. It is common to confuse the two — but they are in fact two different things.

Hosting services such as Bluehost, Siteground and GoDaddy offer both web hosting and a domain. When someone sets up their first website, it is common to purchase both a domain and web hosting from the same provider. This leads many people to assume that the two services are the same.

Let us look at what each service does and why it is preferable to keep them separate.

The difference between web hosting and domain hosting

What is domain hosting?

Domain hosting is a service that provides domain names for websites. A domain hosting service sells domains and registers them in an owner's name in exchange for an annual subscription fee. There are different types of domains at different price points, ranging from $10 to around $1,000 depending on how common or rare the domain is.

A domain is structured as follows: www.YOURNAMEHERE.com. It has different sections separated by dots. A domain directs visitors to a specific website, much like a house address. Each domain has a corresponding IP address that defines its location on the internet. It is obviously much simpler to remember and share a domain name than an IP address.

Domains are classified by level. The most common are top-level, generic top-level, and second-level domains. All web hosting providers that also offer domain hosting have top-level domains, some generic top-level domains, and certain second-level domains. Typical domain names include .com, .net, .org, and .fr.

There are also specialist domain hosting providers that offer all kinds of second-level domains and generic top-level domains such as .photo or .media.

Some top-level domains, such as country code top-level domains, are only used for websites in specific countries. In certain cases, a country domain may be used outside its home country, provided the website owner is authorised to do so. For example, bit.ly uses the country code top-level domain for Libya, and Bit.ly is permitted to use this domain even though the company is based in the United States.

By purchasing a domain from a domain host, you acquire ownership of that domain for as long as you pay the annual fee. However, you cannot create a website without web hosting — a domain gives you only an address.

What is web hosting?

Web hosting is a service that provides space for storing all your website's files. To purchase web hosting, the provider will require you to already own a domain. If you do not have one, the web hosting provider can sell you one. We will explain shortly why it is better to keep them separate.

There are different types of web hosting; the most common are shared, managed, and dedicated. Depending on the type of web hosting you purchase, you will have different tools at your disposal. Some web hosting services offer features that allow your website to run without requiring much technical knowledge.

Other web hosting services give the owner partial or full control over the servers, requiring a skilled technical team. There is also managed hosting, which can simplify the management of any type of web hosting with the support of the hosting provider's developers and technologies.

Shared web hosting

With shared web hosting, a number of websites are hosted on the same server. This is the best option for small websites, beginner bloggers, and early-stage entrepreneurs.

On a shared server, all websites use the same RAM and CPU. This means that as long as all the websites remain small, there should never be any issues. On the other hand, if one of the websites on a shared server experiences a surge in traffic and crashes the server, all the other websites hosted on it will be affected as well.

Dedicated web hosting

Unlike shared web hosting, dedicated web hosting hosts each website on its own server. Since websites do not share a server, they can benefit from much greater bandwidth for high-traffic volumes. Dedicated servers also offer a large amount of file storage for content-heavy websites.

With a dedicated server, the client has direct access to root and admin access. This is a good choice if the business has a skilled technical team. That said, dedicated web hosting can also be offered as managed dedicated hosting for large websites without in-house technical teams.

Managed web hosting

Just as there can be confusion between domain hosting and web hosting, there is also confusion between shared/dedicated hosting and managed hosting. This is understandable, because all types of web hosting — whether shared, dedicated, or cloud — can also be managed.

Managed hosting adds a complete suite of tools for installing and running WordPress, managing files, and handling email, along with a team of developers always on hand to ensure your site runs smoothly.

Managed hosting saves a great deal of time and prevents potential headaches if something goes wrong. Managed shared hosting is the most common type of web hosting for many small businesses and blogs. Managed dedicated and cloud hosting is best suited for large businesses with high-traffic websites.

Your domain can be used with any type of web hosting.

Why keep your domain and web hosting separate

It is not always a good idea to purchase your web hosting and domain from the same provider. There are several reasons for this.

— Better security against hacking. Keeping domain hosting and web hosting separate helps protect a website against a complete takeover. If a hacker gains access via your domain, they could then access all your files. They could lock the website and transfer the domain wherever they wish — and you would lose everything.

If a domain is not hosted with the same provider, you are less likely to lose it. Of course, this only holds true as long as you do not use the same credentials and passwords for both.

— Preventing domain loss. Suppose you pay for both web hosting and domain hosting on the same day with the same provider. A year later, your subscription expires and your domain is placed on hold. If you have not switched host before this happens, you risk losing the domain entirely.

We hope this article has helped to clarify the difference between domain hosting and web hosting.

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