If you pay for a hosting service or sell hosting/resell hosting, Plesk is one of the most common tools you’ll find to manage your server, applications and websites. If you use Plesk and WordPress at the same time, you get access to some goodies to help you manage your WordPress site(s) from inside the Plesk ... Read more Plesk WordPress Toolkit 4.4: Tweaks + Plans for cPanel
The post Plesk WordPress Toolkit 4.4: Tweaks + Plans for cPanel appeared first on Learn WordPress with WPLift.
Are you looking for an affordable managed WordPress hosting for your website? Are you looking for another hosting provider that can make your website performance much better? In this article, we will talk about HostPulse managed WordPress hosting. If you haven’t come across HostPulse hosting, then stick around. We will be talking about all the ... Read more HostPulse Review: Managed WordPress Hosting at Affordable Prices
The post HostPulse Review: Managed WordPress Hosting at Affordable Prices appeared first on Learn WordPress with WPLift.
Here at WPLift, we always recommend SiteGround for WordPress users because we find its blend of performance, features, support, and price to be hard to beat. We also put our money where our mouth is and host WPLift at SiteGround, so we’re not just after the affiliate commission. One thing I never loved about SiteGround, ... Read moreSiteGround Gets a New Hosting Dashboard – No More cPanel
The post SiteGround Gets a New Hosting Dashboard – No More cPanel appeared first on Learn WordPress with WPLift.
Maybe you’re thinking about building a website, and you’re trying to determine which hosting company will best serve your needs. Perhaps you’ve already created one or more websites, and you’re considering a change in hosting services. As we compare two of the top contenders in the industry, SiteGround vs. Bluehost, we’ll dig deep into the ... Read moreSiteGround vs Bluehost: Which Should You Choose for Your Hosting Needs?
The post SiteGround vs Bluehost: Which Should You Choose for Your Hosting Needs? appeared first on Learn WordPress with WPLift.
Thinking about using Flywheel to host your WordPress site? In our Flywheel review, we’ll go hands-on and show you how Flywheel performs, as well as how Flywheel helps you save time when managing your WordPress site. In general, Flywheel offers stellar performance powered by the Google Cloud platform, has a custom hosting management dashboard that’s ... Read moreFlywheel Review (WordPress Hosting): Hands-On and Performance Tested
The post Flywheel Review (WordPress Hosting): Hands-On and Performance Tested appeared first on Learn WordPress with WPLift.
Heard of this thing called “static WordPress hosting”? Wondering whether going static is right for your site? Whether you have no idea what static WordPress hosting is or you already know the basics, this post will help fill in the details, as well as help you figure out whether or not static hosting is right ... Read moreWhat is Static WordPress Hosting? Pros/Cons and How to Get Started
The post What is Static WordPress Hosting? Pros/Cons and How to Get Started appeared first on Learn WordPress with WPLift.
Lately, we’ve been fascinated with hosting WordPress on DigitalOcean. We’ve seen people sharing pictures of how fast their tiny $5 per month Droplet was loading WordPress for billions of requests. But then we came across a tool called SpinupWP that claims to make hosting WordPress on DigitalOcean something that even a non-techie person like you [...]
The post How to Host WordPress on DigitalOcean Yourself (Even If You’re Not a Techie) appeared first on Learn WordPress with WPLift.
This is a guest post written by Alex Denning. Imagine this: You’ve been working hard to build up your agency, and have steadily accrued a decent portfolio of clients. But naturally, as your business grows, so does the pressure. Then one Sunday night, your phone rings and it’s a major client. Reluctantly, you take the ... Read moreConvesio is the future of WordPress hosting you’ve always wanted
The post Convesio is the future of WordPress hosting you’ve always wanted appeared first on Learn WordPress with WPLift.
In this HostPapa hosting review, we will consider the range of plans, packages, and tools that HostPapa provides to help you create, host and secure your website. Aimed at small to medium businesses as well as individual bloggers, HostPapa will support you through every step of your site’s development. And although HostPapa provides hosting for ... Read moreHostPapa Hosting Review: Affordable Hosting for Small Businesses
The post HostPapa Hosting Review: Affordable Hosting for Small Businesses appeared first on Learn WordPress with WPLift.
We are often asked by our readers to explain what is the difference between a domain name and web hosting? Many beginners don’t know that these are two separate things. In this beginner’s guide, we will explain the difference between a domain name and web hosting.
Domain name is the address of your website that people type in the browser’s URL bar to visit your website.
In other words, if your website was a house, then your domain name will be its address.
Now let’s get into the detailed explanation.
Internet is basically a giant network of computers connected to each other through cables. To easily identify them, each computer is assigned a series of numbers called IP Address.
This IP address is a combination of numbers separated with dots. Typically, IP addresses look like this:
66.249.66.1
Computers have no problem identifying and remembering these numbers. However, it is impossible for humans to remember and use these numbers to connect to websites on the internet.
To solve this problem, domain names were invented.
A domain name can have words which makes it easy to remember website addresses.
Now if you wanted to visit a website on the internet, you don’t need to type a string of numbers. Instead, you can type in an easy to remember domain name, for example, wpbeginner.com.
To learn more about domain names, take a look at our beginner’s guide on domain names and how do they work.
Web hosting is the place where all the files of your website live. It is like the home of your website where it actually lives.
A good way to think about this is if the domain name was the address of your house, then web hosting is the actual house that address points to. All websites on the internet, need web hosting.
When someone enters your domain name in a browser, the domain name is translated into the IP address of your web hosting company’s computer. This computer contains your website’s files, and it sends those files back to the users’ browsers.
Web hosting companies specialize in storing and serving websites. They offer different types of hosting plans to their customers. See our article on WordPress hosting to learn more about choosing the right hosting for your website.
Domain names and web hosting are two different services. However, they work together to make websites possible.
Basically domain name system is like a massive address book that is constantly updated. Behind each domain name, there is an address of the web hosting service storing the website’s files.
Without domain names, it will not be possible for people to find your website and without web hosting you cannot build a website.
To build a website you will need both a domain name and web hosting account.
Buying a domain name alone only gives you right to use that particular domain name for a specific period (usually 1 year).
You need web hosting to store your website’s files. After you get hosting, you need to update your domain name settings and point it to your web hosting service provider.
You can also buy both the domain and hosting from the same company. Typically a domain name costs $14.99 / year, and web hosting normally costs $7.99 / month.
If you are starting your first website, then this may sound like a lot.
Thankfully, Bluehost, an official WordPress recommended hosting provider, has agreed to offer our users a free domain name and over 60% off on web hosting.
→ Click here to start with Bluehost ←
Once you have purchased hosting and registered your domain name, you can start building your website. For complete step by step instructions, see our guide on how to make a website.
You can buy domain name and web hosting from two different companies. However, in that case you will have to point your domain name to your web hosting company by editing its DNS settings.
On the other hand, if you purchase your domain name and web hosting from the same company, then you will not have to change domain name settings.
It is also much easier to manage and renew both services under the same dashboard.
If you want to buy domain names separately, then you can do so from top providers like: Godaddy and NameCheap.
Yes, you can. Normally when you register the domain name, you own the right to use it and transfer it anywhere you want.
For example, let’s say you purchased your domain name from Godaddy and bought your hosting from Bluehost. Now you want to move your domain name to Bluehost, so that it is easier to manage and renew.
You can easily do that. Both companies have detailed step by step instructions that you can follow to transfer your domain name.
Note: We recommend you to wait at least 45 days after the registration or renewal to initiate the transfer. ICANN the international organization that oversees domain names, requires one year renewal whenever a transfer is initiated. By transferring your domain name before that period you could lose that year’s renewal fee.
Yes, you can do that as well. You own the domain name and can change its settings to point it to any web hosting company.
For example, you purchased your domain name and hosting from Godaddy, and now you want to move your web hosting to Bluehost. You can move your site from one host to another by simply transferring files and data. After that you need to edit your domain name settings and point them to your new web hosting provider.
Another example, you purchased your domain name from WordPress.com (See our guide on the difference between WordPress.com vs WordPress.org). Later you wanted to move to self hosted WordPress.org website.
First, you will need to sign up for a WordPress hosting account. After that you can move your site from WordPress.com to WordPress.org. Lastly, you will just edit your domain name settings on WordPress.com and point them to your new WordPress hosting provider.
We hope this article helped you learn the difference between a domain name and web hosting. You may also want to see our comparison of popular website builders for beginners with pros and cons.
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
The post What’s the Difference Between Domain Name and Web Hosting (Explained) appeared first on WPBeginner.