Hello all! I hope you’re doing splendidly today – I must say, you’re looking wonderful, is that a new top?
A question I get asked a LOT by people who know they can ask me questions about web stuff is: What is HOSTING and do I need hosting?
So I have developed an analogy. Think of the internet as a massive warehouse, full of filing cabinets – one of which is yours.
If you want people to find yours, they need to know where to look. That’s the DOMAIN NAME – the www address of your website (www.digitalstarterpack.co.uk for example). In a warehouse, that would be like saying row 4, section c.
So you walk to row 4, section c – the address of your site – but when you get there it’s just an empty space. I mean, it’s YOUR empty space, so it looks lovely, but it’s just empty.
The HOSTING is your filing cabinet. Without it, all you have is an address. So largely pointless.
Hosting is where your website is stored. It’s usually a monthly/annual fee (we do it for £10 a month including an SSL certificate to keep it super safe), often purchased at the same time as your DOMAIN name (your www). But you can buy it separately.
The website itself would then be the way you choose to decorate your cabinet and what files you want to put in it. Want a bright pink filing cabinet full of pictures of cats? That’s very much your prerogative, and can be done!
So in short, if you want a website then the answer to “do I need hosting?” is… yes, you need hosting. And a domain name.
Thus concludes my analogy. And you still look lovely.
Have a smashing day!
