“A website is like having a house with interior design that sits on property with a mailbox.”

I love this quote by Olivia at Bold August Design. (You can see her Instagram post on this here.)

Not everyone knows what the difference is between web hosting and domain hosting. I can see how it’s confusing, especially when some hosts include both, depending on the platform you are using for your website.

So what do you need to know about websites, hosting, domains, and even email? I know some of you didn’t even know that you needed to know these things! :) I didn’t realize that my recent client didn’t know and I was so grateful that she asked. That prompted me to share with those of you who might need to know as well!

This post contains affiliate links, as noted with an asterisk.* I may receive a small commission for any purchases you make through these links at no additional cost to you, of course. Thank you! :)

Let’s start here with the property where you will build your website.

Websites + Web Hosting

A few of the platforms where websites are built are Squarespace, WordPress, Wix, and Shopify. All of these platforms where you build your website also include web hosting in their plans, except for WordPress where you buy your web hosting separately.

Squarespace* is the website platform that I use for my clients and templates. You will want to choose the platform that is best for your business. To learn more about which platform is the right one for your business, take a listen to this podcast — Squarespace vs. the World — Choosing the right platform for your website — by one of my favorite Squarespace experts. She uses a delicious cake metaphor! 🍰 😋 You can also read here the 8 good reasons to choose Squarespace for your small business, if Squarespace is one of the best options for you.

Your website platform, such as Squarespace, will provide you or your website designer with the tools for designing, building, and managing your website or house. The website platforms are providing a place on the internet to display or host your content or your house and store it on their servers or property.

Your web designer is your builder and interior designer. The web designer strategically builds and designs the structure and functionality of your house design (usually starting with a blueprint or mockup like an architect) and then “decorates by applying your brand to the walls and hanging pictures.”

(Sometimes there are others involved in the process: a separate web developer who does the building, a brand designer who creates a brand for your business and provides the style guidelines for colors, fonts, and logos for the web designer to use in the web design, and/or a copywriter who writes all your web copy for you. But now we are going off on a tangent! This post is about hosting!)

Domains + Domain Hosting

A domain host provides a domain name.

Your domain name is like the street address that directs people to your website's location. So this is the address where your website or house lives.

You will want a simple address that is easy to remember and that obviously fits your business as well. Your business name is usually the best choice. If you are a local business, it can be helpful to have the location in your domain name, if it’s not too crazy long and is easy to share and remember.

TIP: Make sure your domain name will be read correctly when written. You might say it one way, but it reads in another. There are some hilarious (and not so appropriate) examples out there! Here’s an example of one for an IT Scrap company. They chose ITScrap.com for their domain name. I don’t think they use it anymore! 😂

Some website builders, like Squarespace, also provide domain hosting. They offer a free domain option available to you included with your web hosting plan for the first year. This domain is available to choose when you purchase an annual plan.

You can purchase a domain name from a domain host such as Namecheap* or GoDaddy. There are many domain host options out there to choose from! (A lot of domain hosts also offer web hosting so you’d build your website on their property and pay for web and domain hosting with them. Did that just add to the confusion? 😅)

When you purchase a domain from a domain host, you can then connect it to your website so that your domain address displays your website content.

You can have multiple domains all forward to a single primary domain. This is similar to how you can forward mail from one address to another.

All domains connected to Squarespace (this includes Squarespace domains and third-party domains) are automatically protected with free SSL certificates to improve security. SSL secures the connection to your site and prevents hackers from impersonating you or stealing your visitors' information.

You can read more about web hosting vs. domain hosting through Squarespace.

Email + Email Hosting

In keeping up with the house metaphor, now we need to know how the mailbox fits in. The mailbox at your address (which is your domain) is delivered by the post office or an email host like Google Workspace, Yahoo, or Microsoft. Again, there are so many you can choose from!

As a business, you want a professional-looking email address at your own domain, not just @gmail.com for example. Even Google has its own domain @google.com for its email.

You can often combine your email host with your domain host. For example, if you use Namcheap for your domain hosting, you can also choose them for your email hosting with the domain.

Squarespace offers a free year of Google Workspace with eligible web hosting plans. See more on this here: Using Google Workspace with Squarespace

Ready to move in?

After you choose your property to build on and then build the house (web host), you get your address (domain host) and send out a notification in your mailbox (email host). You then do a walkthrough to make sure everything is functioning and delivering as it should. And finally, you get to LAUNCH with a housewarming party!

Cheers! 🥂✨