Domain registration and website hosting are often combined services. However, they do not need to combined. If you are setting up a new website or interested in switching hosting, it is important to know the differences between the two.

If you think of your website as a house, the domain name is the address of the house.

Your website and its files are the house itself.

Web hosting is an account on a server that stores your website files. Purchasing hosting is like buying the land that your house will be built on.

You can’t build a house without land to put it on and you need an address to direct people to. Similarly, you can’t create a website without a domain and a host.

That being said, they are separate services.  You do not have to purchase hosting from the company you registered your domain with. And you can switch to a different hosting company without changing your domain registration. But you will want to talk to an expert about how to make the transition with minimal impact.

Interested in looking at other hosting options? We recommend WP Engine for hosting WordPress websites.