PLEASE!! can someone tell me what is the difference between having your own domain and your own website?

Question

ALSO... when you get a website, do you have to register for anything?? (law-wise)

please give me recommendations on which web host to get!

ALSO (sorry!) .. what does it mean 'to host your own website'?

Answer 1

Calm down, Blossom, and let someone in the business help you with this: ME.

A domain is the name of a website and its address on the internet, like www.yahoo.com. Whatever name you make up for YOUR website can be registered just for you as long as nobody else has used it yet.

Your website is the collection of files that carry your message, sell your stuff, show your pictures and do all the other things you see on the web. The web pages are separate files, handled just like any other files on your computer. Pictures are also separate files that are called by the individual web page files to display in certain places on each page. Yet other files are used to control the appearance of text and graphics on each page. All those files exist together under a big "master folder" on a computer that's connected to the internet so other people can see your stuff.

So, your domain name is like the address on a house. Your website is like the house itself.

Domain names must be registered so there are no duplicates, and so the electronic address (the IP number) can be assigned and made available to the internet as a whole. That way, when someone types in your web address, a system of big computers matches your name to the address, which points to the specific computer where your web site is "hosted." You can think of this as a telephone directory. When domain names are first registered, it takes awhile for all the directories to be updated. This is known as "propogation time." Usually the update happens right away, but sometimes it can take a day or two for all directories around the world to be updated.

What makes your web site and your domain really YOURS is that they exist independently on the internet the same as yahoo or anyone else. There are some services that sell (or give away) "space" on their own websites -sort of like renting an apartment. So, people who want to see your web site must first enter a the mater domain name, then a "/" and then YOUR web site name. What's really going on here is that "your" site is just a page or pages on some other web site.

Registration of your domain is centralized in a big central file, but there are many, many places that will handle registration for as little as nothing to as much as $50 or more per year. This is sort of like being able to buy a fishing license at many stores -but it all goes back to just one place. It is convenient to handle domain registration and web site hosting all at one place, but it is not necessary. (Registration is for a minium of a year, but you can buy multiple years at one time, like a magazine subscription.)

Now, let's have a look at a simple web site I designed for a friend. Go to a separate browser window (so you can keep this one open) and type in the domain name: www.ucsmoke.com.

By the way, domains are often referred to as URL's. URL means "Unifrom Source Locator." Just another way of saying, "address."

You'll see Uncle Charlie's Smoke House appear. Just a few pages. Notice how pages within the website (such as "Music") show www.ucsmoke.com and then a slash ("/") and then the page name. The first page on the site -the "home" page has just the domain/URL. All the other pages have that PLUS an additional name following the slash; this ties them back to the home page, but gives them each a separate address of their own. You could just as well type in the entire address of that page and go straight to it, if you wanted to. Back on Charlie's home page, you'll see his picture, which is a separate file called by code on the page, and some blinking boxes to call attention to some new info. To see all the code, click "View" on your menu bar at the top of the browser, then click "Source." And there's the code that makes his home page show up the way it does. No matter what you use to make a web site, it all gets reduced to this kind of code -even if you never actually look at the code itself.

Ok, mess around Charlie more, if you like, then close him up.

You asked about "law-wise." The registration I've talked about is just to get your show on the road, as it were; there is nothing legal about it. Think of it like telephone service: you don't need a special permit for one -but you do need to order service and get a phone number. That said, if you are using the internet to run a business, you might need a business license where you are, or maybe a sales tax permit, just as you would if you opened an office to sell things over the phone.

"Hosting your own" means that you maintain and operate your website right from your own PC -YOU act as your own host. That involves some registration of its own, and has other challenges, to: for example, your physical connection to the internet may need to be upsized so you can handle multiple simultaneous connection to people who visit your site. Also, special security measures to avoid people hacking in. Best left to the pros.

Where's a good place? Try:

www.lunarpages.com.

Your domain name is free for life, they'll handle registration for you, and they'll host your site for less than $100 a year, and yes, it is your very own. The service is excellent, but there is a lot to learn. There are also sites that are less costly -and some that are free -but they usually put ads on your site and have limited features. Scope out all the ones you see mentioned in response to your answer. Bear in mind the cost of registration.

I hope this has been helpful.

Answer 2

Having a domain means that the name (www.yourname.com or whatever) is registered as belonging to you. The only registration you need to do is via a domain registrar -- it only takes a few minutes. http://www.godaddy.com for example is a registrar. Having a domain doesn't mean you have to put up a web site, I own several domains that are for E-mail only.

Having a web site means that some server will provide web pages for a given domain, that lets people on the internet browse your site. You don't have to own the domain to have a web site -- for example geocities lets you put up your own web site within their domain (and there are many similar services that will let you put up free web sites within someone else's domain).

"Hosting your own website" usually means that a server that you own and control contains the pages for your web site that other people view. I used to "host my own website." A computer in my basement had web server software loaded on it, and all of my domains were hosted there. But it became too much of a hassle to maintain, so I moved to a hosting company a few years ago. Nowadays hosting is so cheap -- and the requirements for having a good secure, spam-filtering, etc., server are so time-consuming -- that there's not much point in hosting your own.

In the past I've used HostGator:
http://www.hostgator.com
They were fairly inexpensive and had good disk space and bandwidth limits.
Now all of my hosting is with GoDaddy, the same registrar I use for all my domains. It's a little more expensive but has better uptime and connectivity to the rest of the world.

Answer 3

You can own a domain without having a web site. For example, if you own www.mydomain.com, no one else can use it.

In order to own a domain, you need to register it and pay for it via an internet registrar like godaddy. Once you own the domain, you can create a website with it. You can do this in two ways, you can host it on your pc which is what happens when you host your own website or you can sign up for a shared hosting plan and have a 3rd party host it for you.

In order to host the website on your pc, you will need an internet connection with a static ip so that people can access your site consistently.

If a 3rd party hosts your site, you will need to pay them a monthly fee.

Answer 4

all right, ill try to answer all of them...

One thing to get straight is the diffeence between a domain name and a web host. a domain name is merely, like said below, www.something.com. however, to put anything on there you need a web host, which almost always costs money.

A domain name is something like www.yourdomain.com (.org, .co.uk, whatever). these almost always cost money.
Your own website is just anywhere on the World Wide Web that anyone can acess. For example, if you want a free website, you should consider using a subdomain off a domain provider (www.yourdomain.theirdomain.com)
A recommendation on what web host? well, the best free one is, in my opinion is found at http://www.freedomain.co.nr/ However, there are sites out there that let you compare domain hosting plans. you should use this so you dont end up paying for something you don't need
Lastly, to host your own website simply means that you are paying (usually) for space on the Web and a domain name to put an HTML document of your creation there. Hosting simply means 'giving you space to put your website here'
One last thing. This was not a question you asked, but I hope it helps. If you want to make money off of your site (who wouldnt?) consider putting ads on your site. you should look into Google Adsense (http://www.google.com/adsense)

I hope this helps and I wish you luck in creation of your site!

PS: if you need a good, FREE web designer, look into Nvu (www.nvu.com) It is just like dreamweaver but less features (and a couple hundred bucks off the price!)

Answer 5

Domain means your web address. say myname.com or yourcompanyname.org..etc. when you design webpage and host it, it becomes a website. hosting means making it available to internet users. if the website u design is in your personal computer, people cant see it right? it has to be in the computer of webhost who will make it available to the interent users. you can get free hosts too. but, if its a business website, host it with a good host. it may cost you anything between usd 10 to usd 100 per annum. no, idont think u need any registration from govt.

Answer 6

ok Imagine the Domain is the plot a house is built on , the website is the house and the webhost is the BANK who owns your mortgage . Hosting your own website is owning the rights to publish your website on the net. As for legal , depends what You are selling ....ahermm.

Answer 7

Okay lets start

A domain name is just a personalized name of your site like www.mywebsite.com
Sub-domains are free and they are like:
www.mywebsite.tripod.com

Your website is the actual content of your site

You do not need to register your site unless its commercial I would assume.

From my experience, the best web hosts are:
Tripod-http://www.tripod.lycos.com/
Geosities-http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/learn2/HowItWorks4_Free.html
Bravehost-http://www.bravenet.com/webhosting/

If you want to learn how to HTML and write javascrpt then use
this website:http://www.pageresource.com/index.html

If you dont want to HTMl it yourself then use Bravehost becuase they provide excellent web building tools.

Hosting your own website basically means just buying your own webspace.

Hope this helps. You can check out my Site. I used Tripod.
http://mandalorian-crusader.tripod.com/

Answer 8

Professional designs usually are of higher quality than those made automatically by websites like weebly, both aesthetically and code-wise. They also allow for more customisation of the Website and its UI, at the cost of ease of customizability. Also, search engine optimization can be done without a service like weebly, as you can just add some metadata to the HTML

Answer 9

These guys and there long answers! Tut.

A domain name is the alphabetical identification of you're site. like www.myname.com.

You're actual website is consistant of files which are placed on you're 'webspace'.

Domain names: www.hostway.com / .co.uk
Webhosting: contact me and i'll be glad to give you as much space as you need for free.