Figuring out all of those website development terms can get tricky – what exactly IS a domain name, and where do you get one? What’s the difference between a domain name and a website? And what about website hosting, how does that fit into the picture?

As a website developer and designer for coaches and consultants, I get asked these questions A LOT. Most clients I work with don’t really want to know all the “under the hood” tech stuff, but they DO want to have a basic understanding of how it all works.

Over the years, I’ve developed a fun analogy to help folks understand the differences. Things can get very complicated, very quickly, in the world of web development, so I’ve tried to simplify the concepts here to help you put all the pieces together.

Read on for an easy way to think about and understand the differences between a domain name, a website, and website hosting.

What’s the difference between a domain name and a website?

Building a website is like owning a mobile home. (Note to you – I have zero experience with mobile homes, so forgive any errors, I’m just telling stories!!).

When you want to build a mobile home (your website), one of the things you will need is trailer/foundation to build it on. The trailer is essential to having your mobile home, you can’t finish your project without it. You have to have a trailer to move it from one place to another if you need to relocate, and your mobile home can’t be used without this essential piece.

Your domain name is the trailer. So your www.yourwebsitehere.com that you buy, is the trailer.

Another way to look at it is you can build your mobile home (your website) at a factory, but if you want to live in it and put it on a piece of land, you have to have a trailer (your domain name).

It’s important to note that you can buy LOTS of trailers, and never build mobile homes on them!

I know many people who own tons of trailers (domain names) and never plan to build on them, they are just holding them for the future. And, you can build a mobile home (website) at a factory WITHOUT a domain name, and then put that mobile home on top of the trailer later, after you’ve decided what trailer to buy.

What is the difference between a website and website hosting?

So the next step is to actually build that mobile home (the website) that you will put on top of the trailer. Sometimes you build right on top of the trailer right away, and sometimes you build that home in a factory before you put it on the trailer.

In fact, that’s what I do for you when I’m building a new website. I’m the factory, and then I put your site on your trailer. And I can also rent you the land, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves here.

Ok, so now you have your website (the mobile home) and it’s on top of the trailer (the domain name). The next thing you need is a piece of rented land to put that trailer on. That piece of rented land is the website hosting.

You absolutely have to have a piece of land in order to live in your mobile home, because people can’t come and visit you otherwise. Your piece of land (your website hosting) isn’t owned by you, you rent that land monthly or yearly, and pay to use it, and you can choose to move your trailer/mobile home to another piece of land if you wish.

If you do, you will still have the same trailer and mobile home, but it will just be located on a different piece of land (the server IP address, but we won’t get into that here!).

What is a website theme or design?

Once you have your trailer (domain name), mobile home (website), piece of rented land (website hosting), you likely want to get comfortable. So, you paint, add carpet, and put in furniture. All of that is your website design or website theme. Your website design is usually easily updated, and you don’t have to change trailers, mobile homes, or land to make those changes.

If you want to continue down this rabbit hole of an analogy with me, we could go further and say that your fixtures (things that are fixed or attached to your home, like built-in cabinets or shelves, showers, lighting fixtures), are your website CMS, or content management system (think WordPress or Joomla), and your furniture is your website design or theme – easy to change anytime.

So, if you want to have an all-blue interior, go for it! Then next year you decide you want new furniture, and the walls need to be green, that can be done! You keep all your infrastructure (trailer, mobile home, land, fixtures) and just change the furniture (the design or theme).

What is website maintenance?

One last, and very important thing to understand, is website maintenance. Going back to our analogy, when you have a mobile home, you have placed it on some rented land (your website hosting) so that you can live in it.

But who is going to mow the lawn?

Granted, you are paying monthly or yearly to keep your mobile home on that land. But it’s not enough to just rent the land, you need to think about upkeep. Someone needs to mow the lawn, clean the windows, and make regular checks that your roof and foundation aren’t leaking. Plus – you likely want a home alarm and security system set up to keep your investment safe!

Either you, or someone else that you pay, needs to perform these important tasks. And these tasks are website maintenance. Some people love to do all the maintenance themselves. They are usually “techie” folks that like learning new things and are prepared to spend a few hours (or more than a few!) learning and applying that knowledge to keep their website updated and safe.

Some people prefer to pay other people to perform those important upkeep tasks. Often website maintenance is bundled together with website hosting (it makes sense that the person who is renting you the land is also in charge of the upkeep and maintenance).

And then there are those people who have a mobile home, trailer, and rented land, but never do any upkeep. Their lawns are unruly and unkempt, their windows are dirty, and they get broken into a lot (hackers, malware attacks, continuous spam from contact forms).

Don’t be those people! Take the time to learn how to keep your website safe and secure, and updated so that your property looks great, people can easily come and visit, and you don’t have any break-ins. If you don’t have the time to do this yourself, or you don’t want to learn everything you need to know, hire a company to do the upkeep, security and maintenance for you.

Summing It Up

This is a really simplified version, but for most folks, it helps to understand the difference between a domain name, website design or theme, website hosting, and website maintenance.

You can’t have a mobile home (website) without a trailer (you have to buy a domain name) and no one can visit you without some rented land (your website hosting). It’s usually fairly easy to change your paint or furniture (your website design or theme), and you also need to consider your property upkeep and security (website maintenance).

I hope that helps you make some sense of the wonderful world of website design and development! Have any other questions? Let me know in the comments below!