When you are working with a web design company to launch a new website, two pieces of information come up almost immediately: where your domain is registered, and who is hosting your website. These are not the same thing, though they are often confused. At FirstPage Marketing, we work closely with clients to help them get these foundational pieces sorted before a build begins, because without both in place, a website simply cannot go live. Understanding what a domain registrar is, and how it relates to website hosting, makes the whole process significantly less mysterious.
What is a Domain Name?
A domain name is the address of your website on the internet. If a website is a building, the domain name is the street address. When someone types a web address into their browser, the domain name is the recognizable portion, typically formatted as something like www.yourbusiness.com. Everything that follows in the URL refers to individual pages within the site.
Domain names exist because the internet actually runs on IP addresses, which are numerical strings that computers use to identify and communicate with servers. Since most people cannot remember a string of numbers, domain names were invented to provide a human-readable label that maps to the underlying IP address. When you type a domain name into a browser, the internet does the work of translating that name into the correct numerical address behind the scenes.
How Domain Names Work
When a domain name is entered into a browser, a request travels through a network of servers that make up the Domain Name System (DNS). The DNS matches the domain name to the correct IP address and directs the browser to the server where your website’s files are stored. This all happens in a fraction of a second, which is why it feels instantaneous from a user’s perspective.
Prioritizing a domain name that is clearly associated with your business name is worth the thought. People who can recognize and remember it are more likely to navigate directly to your site rather than routing through a search engine every time.
Can Your Domain Name Affect SEO?
Keyword-rich domain names do not directly boost search rankings the way they once did, so choosing a domain purely for keywords is not worth it. Memorability and clear brand association matter more. A domain that people can remember and type correctly gives them a reason to visit directly rather than relying on search results each time.
Previously used domain names can carry positive or negative associations with search engines based on their history, which is worth checking if you are purchasing a domain that has been owned before.
Learn how to determine the price of a new website.
What is a Domain Registrar?
A domain registrar is a company that sells and manages domain names. When you purchase a domain, you are paying the registrar for the right to use that name for a set period of time, typically renewed annually. GoDaddy is one of the most widely known registrars, though many others exist.
Beyond selling domains, registrars hold and manage the DNS records associated with each domain. Those records contain the information the rest of the internet needs to find your website and route your email correctly. Without a registrar maintaining those records, a browser searching for your domain would have no way to locate where your website is actually hosted.
What is a Website Hosting Company?
A website hosting company stores the actual files that make up your website: images, code, content, and everything else that visitors see and interact with. When someone enters your domain name into their browser, the DNS translates that name into the IP address of your hosting company’s server, and those files are delivered to the visitor’s browser.
Think of domain registration as the address listing in a phone book, and web hosting as the physical plot of land the building sits on. Both are necessary. The listing tells people where to go; the land is where the building actually stands.
How Domain Registrars and Website Hosting Work Together
While domain registration and website hosting are two distinct services, they work together to make your website accessible on the internet. The domain registrar’s DNS records function like a constantly updated address book. Each domain name in that book has a corresponding entry pointing to the hosting provider storing the site’s files. When a browser requests your domain, it consults that address book and gets directed to the right server.
Adjustments to DNS records are needed whenever you change hosting providers, set up business email, or make other technical changes to your website infrastructure. This is why access to your domain registrar account is something both you and your web developer may need at key moments in a project.
Do You Need Both?
Yes. You need a domain name to give your website a recognizable address, and you need hosting to store the website’s files. Without a domain, your site has no address for people to find it. Without hosting, there is nowhere for the files to live.
You can purchase both from the same company or from separate ones. Buying from the same provider simplifies management and renewals since everything is accessible through one account. If you purchase from separate companies, you will need to update your domain’s DNS settings to point to your hosting provider, which requires a configuration step your web developer can help with.
Why Knowing Your Registrar and Host Matters
This information becomes very practical very quickly. A web developer building or modifying your site needs access to your hosting account. Your IT team setting up business email needs access to your DNS records through your domain registrar. Having the login credentials for both readily available keeps every technical project moving without unnecessary delays.
Store those login details somewhere secure and accessible. Domain registrars have strict procedures for account recovery, and losing access can cause real delays. Knowing where your domain is registered and where your site is hosted, with credentials on hand, makes every technical project move faster and with fewer complications.
If you are building a new website or working through the domain and hosting setup for the first time, our team is glad to walk you through it. We work through these details with clients regularly and can help you get everything in the right place. Give us a call at 604-866-2230 and we can talk through your situation.
