A website depends on three things that are easy to mix up: the domain, the hosting and the DNS. When something breaks, or when you change providers, knowing which is which saves time and protects you.
The domain
Your domain is your address, like yourbusiness.com. You rent it from a registrar, usually one year at a time. If it isn’t renewed, your website and your email can stop working, and someone else may be able to register it.
- Make sure the domain is registered in your business’s name, not a former employee’s or a past web designer’s.
- Turn on auto-renew, and keep the card on file current.
- Know which company it’s with and how to log in.
The hosting
Hosting is the computer that stores your website’s files and shows them to visitors. Good hosting is fast, backed up and kept secure. Hosting can move from one company to another without changing your domain.
The DNS
DNS is the directory that tells the internet where your domain’s services live: which server shows the website, and which server handles email. DNS settings are just records, but a wrong record can take your site or email offline. Make changes carefully, write down what was there before, and change one thing at a time.
Why the difference matters
- If your email stops working, the cause is usually a DNS record, not your website.
- If you change web designers, you can keep your domain and point it somewhere new.
- If a renewal email arrives, you’ll know whether it’s real by checking who your registrar actually is.
A five-minute ownership check
- Write down where your domain is registered and when it renews.
- Write down who hosts your website.
- Write down who manages your DNS.
- Confirm you, not someone else, can log in to each one.
- Store the logins in a password manager, not in an email or a spreadsheet.
If you can’t complete this list, that’s worth fixing before anything else. It’s one of the first things we check when we take on a new site.