Domain? Hosting? Help? Affordable!?!?

Question

Okay so whats the difference from buying a host or buying a domain?

Also is this a good deal? http://www.hostgator.com/shared.shtml

I might get the "baby" deal, but I'm not sure if it's a smart thing,

anyway, i really like graphic arts so i'll be a resource site and personal site for my art.

overall, am i getting a good deal and should I buy it?!

Answer 1

Hosting and Domain go together, they're two different things. It's quite complicated to explain but I'll give it one of my best shots.

Firstly, web hosting is where your web site will be hosted onto the internet. You upload your files there so other users can see them if they know your web site domain (will explain domains later on). Usually, you're expected to upload an "index.html" file so that would be your main page.

Secondly, domain is a URL you purchase. It's basically an address/URL you type into your browser. Eg. you can purchase either one of these or how many you wish; .com, .net, .org and many others, it would then be your URL. Eg. http://www.websitename.com or .net or anything you wish to purchase.

And yes, I would say the Hostgator "Baby" package is a very good deal. But they do give you an awful lot of space (the more the better).

Answer 2

A host, HOSTS your website. A Domain is the named address that points to your hosted website. www.mydomain.com. You will need bost of them, however, you "buy" a domain name.

I use www.dreamhost.com. They will let you register a domain name of your choice for free if you host with them, so you wont have to go and pay at some other registrar. Their plans are also better than the company you linked too.

Answer 3

First let me say I am a professional web designer and you do NOT want to host on Godaddy. it is in my opinion second worst hosting company that I know of.

Go to http://www.samwilson3d.com , there is a list of hosts (right side menu) they all have cpanel and something called "fantastico" the least expensive of these plans is around $50 per YEAR

Godaddy has given me problems of every kind including MySQL and FTP problems and they are just a pain in the butt

Now depending on what kind of site you want, I recommend Coppermine Photo Gallery or Joomla or Zen cart which is a 1 click install using Fantastico, you can make this look however you want bu only using Photoshop and CSS. I would start with a premade template designed for Coppermine and then make adjustments from there to make the site the way you want it.(the template can just be a starting point or you can not use one at all)

Joomla can also be installed with one click using Fantastico and that may also be the way to go.

-there are about 20 different 1-click install solutions that you can install and customize with Fantastico

Answer 4

A domain is kind of like a PO box and host is kind of like the actual residence you have mail forwarded to fro mtthe PO Box. I'm not sure if that anology helps, if not forget it.

your domain is just the name for the site like yahoo.com hosting is the computer space to store the actual files that make up your site. Your domain has to be pointed to the ip address of your hosting service to make it bring  up your website.

I haven't had the chance of workin with hostgator yet but from the research I've done they look like the best value for the money for hosting services these days. Thier reviews seem to be pretty good,  they are cheap and they offer a lot of services.