What’s The Difference Between Hosting & Domain In Nigeria?

Hosting and domain are two of the most popularly important elements that are needed to build any kind of website. The process of building a website remains a mirage without a domain name and web hosting.

A web hosting is where your web files are stored, and served to global users over the internet. The hosting is responsible for easy management and storing of we data, While a domain on the other hand is what gives people an access link or address to your website on the internet. A website can one domain that is peculiar to it.

Both hosting and domain must handshake to work effectively, it is therefore necessary to understand the difference between them before you begin the process of building your website.

Let’s help you understand everything there is about web hosting and domain, what hosting is, what domain is, how they work, their synergetic relationship, and the differences between hosting and domain in Nigeria. 

What is a Domain Name?

A domain name can be simply put as the pointer to a website address, that is, the name and its extension together. For example, Google.com is the domain name for Google. So instead of inputting Google’s IP address which we are sure most people do not know, you can just type in the much easier “Google.com,” and it takes you to your destination.

A domain name makes it easier for internet users to find your website, because no one is trying to memorize a pattern of numbers to find your website. A domain name also sends a message to your visitors about what your brand is about.

How does a domain name works?

Every time your domain name is typed into browsers, your browser will search through DNS servers for the one that holds the information of your IP address. Once found, the browser will return with this information and request that the hosting server provides data on that website, when the hosting server does that, the browser then translates it into a webpage.

When you get a custom name for your website, you give it a more sophisticated look, and make it more trustworthy. Do not underestimate the power of a good domain name, a well-thought domain name will have you ranking higher on search engines. Getting a domain also means you can now create unique business email accounts tailored to your company name.

You can get a custom .ng domain name from ThriveHost by starting a domain search from our domain registration page. We have options for you to register both Nigerian TLDs and international domain extensions.

What Is Web Hosting?

A Web hosting is the service which makes it possible for your website to be on the Internet. When you buy a plan from a provider like ThriveHost, you are allotted a piece of their web servers. Depending on the web hosting plan you opt for, you can then use this web storage space to host your web files.

Every time a visitor visits your website’s domain name, it is the duty of your web hosting provider to retrieve and display this content to the visitor.

When buying a hosting plan from any provider, it is important that you are sure they offer the essential tools and options. For example look out for a great customer support, malware scanner, friendly tools, server maintenance, and sometimes, website builders. These tools make it easy to create and manage your website.

ThriveHost Nigeria

ThriveHost Nigeria offers an all-inclusive ultra-speed web hosting and servers with built-in CDN, and malware scanner.

In addition to everything mentioned above, your web host is also charged with the responsibility of protecting your server and website data from malicious attack. When looking for a good web host for your website, please consider the following factors:

User Friendliness: web hosting providers will give you a control panel which will be used in the management of your web hosting account. This control panel will determine a lot of actions you carry out on the account, and as a result, make sure the dashboard is easy to use and navigate.

Speed loading pages: Your web hosting must be able to facilitate fast loading speeds, and at least a 99% uptime so that your website is fully operational at every time.

Pricing and Plans: Before paying for any web hosting, you need to check out their prices and what each plan comes with. Every plan comes with various add-ons and different renewal fees, you need to put these things into consideration before buying a plan.

Reliable Customer service: do yourself the best to choose a hosting company with a customer support team that actually works, round the clock too. You should always be able to contact customer support for assistance with anything regarding your hosting plan at any time.

How Are Hosting and Domain Different?

Now to the main question that has had you searching, what is the difference between hosting and in Nigeria?

The most significant difference between hosting and domain is that while web hosting is the virtual location of your website, the domain name is what points users to this exact location of your website.

For simple context, we can say that hosting is the drawer you keep your red ball pens. Domain name is the sticker you use to label this drawer, so you can easily identify it when you need to use one.

While these two are totally different entities of their own, they still provide related services. This brings us to the part we look at how hosting and domain work together.

How Does Hosting and Domain Work Together?

Both hosting and domain names work together hand-in-hand to create the websites you use, without them, websites would be impossible to reach. The reason for this is that if one of these is absent, then it is either your website isn’t anywhere on the internet, or it is, but there is no address to reach it.

To avoid the various possible hassles that might arise as a result of malfunctions between any of  the hosting or domain name providers, it is advisable that you purchase hosting and domain from the same company. It also saves you time.

Conclusion

Hosting and domains in Nigeria (and everywhere else for that matter) are quite two different things, even though there are some similarities. Hosting provides the space your website is situated on, domain names on the other hand points users to the direction of your website’s location.

The connection between them is that they function correctly with each other, if one of hosting or domains is rendered redundant, then the website is as good as dead.