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ISPs and Web Hosts and Domains, Oh My!
There seems to be a lot of confusion out there when it comes to what's entailed in having a website. With most people, all I have to do is just start discussing the differences between ISPs, web hosts and domain names, and they get the same confused look on the their faces that I get when our financial expert tries to explain the intricacies of tax laws to me.
This, then, is an attempt to clear up that confusion. There are three distinct, but interrelated, components of a professional website. They are:
- Your connection for using the Internet (typically called an "ISP")
- The computer that "houses" the website (the "host")
- The address of the website
ISPs
In the computer geek world, "ISP" means "Internet Service Provider" (since moving back to Idaho, when I'm talking to non-geek friends I need to constantly remind myself that "ISP" also means "Idaho State Police").
At its simplest, an ISP is the company that provides the server (a specialized computer attached to the Internet) that your computer connects to when accessing the Internet. Some of the national ISPs most people are familiar with are Verizon, Roadrunner, Comcast, SBC (AT&T), Earthlink, and AOL.
You could compare an ISP to a TV cable or satellite company. The cable or satellite company just connects your house to the world of TV broadcasts. You're simply paying for the connection to TV shows (the original world-wide network).
However, ISPs also provide additional services, such as an e-mail address and maybe some web space for you to create a limited, "personal" website. But, you can get these services elsewhere too (more about that later). These additional services aren't really tied to what an ISP does, per se. This is what usually causes the confusion.
In this way, an ISP is like the bank you do your checking with. There's no reason that you have to also get your credit card and loans from them, but they do their best to make themselves your convenient, one-stop shopping place for all things financial. There may be better places to get your credit card or loan from, but you'll have to seek them out on your own.
Web Hosting
A web host is a special computer that makes your website files available to the Internet. Web hosting services fall into two main categories:
- ISPs that provide limited web space for your "personal" web pages
- Full-featured web hosting companies
You can use the "personal web space" provided by your ISP to create a simple website that's based on your ISP's web address – something like "www.earthlink.net/YourAccountName". These sites are limited in what they can do and how large they are, however.
If you need more advanced features, such as a shopping cart or website statistics (how many visitors it receives, where they came from, which web pages they visited, etc.), you'll need full-featured web hosting.
This usually means signing up with a third-party web host service company. Depending on how many extra features you need, and how big the web host company is (larger national companies tend to be cheaper than smaller local companies), the fees can run from free (this usually requires that your site include advertising from the web host on it), to hundreds of dollars per month.
(Note: Be careful not to end up with a "cut-rate" web host at the lower end of the price spectrum - there are web hosts that offer full-service hosting and great customer support at reasonable prices, you just need to know where to look!)
One of the biggest benefits of using a third-party hosting service is that you'll be able to use your own web address, something you probably can't do with your free ISP service. (Remember, your free web address would be based on your ISP's address, like "www.earthlink.net/YourAccountName"). This leads us to the subject of domain names.
Domain Names
Addresses on the Internet are called domain names. Domain names are comprised of the last two parts of a web or e-mail address (e.g. YourCompany.com). Having your own domain name is all important, because it enables you to keep the same web and e-mail addresses forever (assuming you pay the annual renewal fee to the domain registration company, of course). This means that you can change to a different ISP or web host whenever you want.
We recommend that you obtain a domain for yourself ASAP, even if you don't know when you'll start using it.
To register a domain name yourself, all you have to do is visit a domain registration company's website, pay their fee, and tell them to "park" it (which means that you're just obtaining ownership of the domain, but aren't ready to start actually using it yet).
Or have a trusted web designer register it for you (we include this in our web design service).
A few years ago, there was only one registration company, Network Solutions (who are a part of Verisign now). They charge $35 per year for a domain, but they've got competition now that's much cheaper. Two companies that we've had good experiences with are www.GoDaddy.com ($10.69/year) and www.Dotster.com ($15.95/year). These were the domain registration prices listed at the time this article was written - they'll likely change though, of course.
Customer service warning: Some registration companies are much easier to work with than others, so be careful about using one just because it's well-known, advertises a lot, or has the cheapest rates.
Related, but Separate
The main point of this is to remember that ISPs, web hosts, and domain names are all distinct, different pieces of the pie. Granted, it's all an "Internet pie," but the pieces are still separate. For a more familiar comparison, let's go back to the banking example: checking, credit cards and loans are all part of the same "financial pie," but that doesn't mean you have to get them all in one place.
If nothing else, remember that it's cheap and fairly easy to own your domain name (even if you don't start using it right away), plus it's liberating (breaks your tie to any particular ISP or web host).