Understanding The Difference Between A Domain A Subdomain And A Directory
How do you tell the difference between a domain, a sub-domain, and a sub-directory, and what is the difference between the three, and when developing a website which should you use, and for what.
This article is written for those of you who are in the process of looking for a website designer. One of the good things to do when youre shopping, is to look through the web designers portfolio. Most folks looking through a portfolio of websites will notice the obvious, like what the websites look like. This article was written to hopefully help you notice something a big less obvious: whether the web designer is using real domains, creating sub-domains, or directories for his website clients.
When youre looking in a web designers portfolio, dont just rely on the images they provide. Click in the URL of the websites they claim to have designed. . Take a good look at the URL, its at the very top of your browser and begins with http://.
First, let me explain what these three things are and how to tell them apart.
1. Domains: These look like http://www.yourbusiness.com or http://yourbusiness.com. Domains are registered and owned by YOU, the small business owner.
3. Directory: These look like: http://www.yourwebdesigner.com/yourbusiness/. These are simply directories that the web designer has created to put your files in.
So What Is A Domain Name
A domain name is essentially the web hosting equivalent of a postal address. Heres what you need to know:
What Are The Differences Between Http And Https In The Url
Hyper Text Transfer Protocol is a protocol. In other words, its a set of rules and standards.
Moreover, the hyper-text exchanged using HTTP goes as plain text. Thus this protocol is not secure and is susceptible to interception. Whereas, on the other hand, HTTPS is a secure protocol. It works in conjunction with TLS/SSL certificate. The certificate, then, is to ensure the authentication of the flow of information between the browser and the server. This other article HTTP vs HTTPS explain in details this difference inside the URL.
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Difference Between Domain And Server
Some technical terms like a domain name or a server are closely related but they are not the same. Lets discuss some differences and some unique characteristics a domain name and a server has:
| Domain Name | |
| It is like the address of a specific house | It is the house itself! |
| Human readable form of an IP address | A machine that stores a website or other kind of data and you can find it by IP address |
| You can buy it even without a website | A server can also refer to the software that is installed on physical servers |
| It can be used for creating professional emails | More powerful than usual computers and it can be open for days without interruption |
**Get a free domain for 1 year and quality website hosting from Hostinger.com . Read my full review here.
What Is A Web Hosting
When you once create a website, you will need a server to store all data, content, and information for your website. Web hosting is an internet service that provides a secure place to store all data and files of your website. Web hosting service helps your site be always accessible on the internet.
Simply: web hosting is a place where your website is always live. For creating a website, web hosting is the most important step after registering a domain name.
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What Is The Website Domain
Once in the browser, users can open web pages by entering a uniform resource locator in the address bar, like so:
When users dont know the URL of a website, they can use a search engine, like Google, to find it. Computers communicate using unique number strings called IP addresses, which look like this: 172.17.234.8.
If you type in an IP associated with your website, youll end up seeing your website in the web browser. Now, imagine that you would have to memorize countless IP addresses to access websites daily. Its highly unlikely that users will memorize all of this information. So, this is where domains come in place.
A website domain is a user-friendly version of your IP address. Its an easy-to-remember way for users to access your website. Google.com, Amazon.com, and Youtube.com are some of the most popular domains on the web.
Oftentimes, users confuse domains and URLs. So, lets make it clear. A URL is a complete web address used for locating files on the web.
Whereas, a domain name is a form of web address located in a URL. For example, Colibris URL looks like this: https://colibriwp.com/
A domain name inside this URL looks like this: colibriwp.com
Whats The Difference Between A Domain Vs Url
At this point, you should have a much better idea of the difference between domain vs URL for the website youre looking to create. Now its time for you to lock in your chosen URL before its taken by someone else.
Even if youre not ready to use the domain yet, why not register it for later use so that youre guaranteed to have it available when its time to start building your site?
As mentioned earlier, the WordPress content management system is one of the best ways to build a highly professional site, even for novices. But once your site is live, itll be time to take on-site security.
Fortunately, iThemes Security has an easy-to-use WordPress security plugin that can take care of this for you. If you plan to manage multiple WordPress sites, youll also want iThemes Sync in your arsenal.
But beyond that, keeping your site backed up at all times will help save you from tech headaches down the road. The WordPress backup plugin called BackupBuddy is your best solution for this.
If all of this talk about domain vs URL sounds a little bit intimidating, the iThemes WordPress training courses will get you going faster than you may think.
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Choosing A Domain Name
After making your choice on a domain registrar, its time to dream up the domain name youre going to use.
If your plan is to create a personal online portfolio or blog, a lot of people will use their name. This will typically be available unless you have a common name such as Becky Smith.
If the domain name you want to use is in question, simply use the section within the registrar that allows you to see if the one you want is available for purchase and use.
Most registrars will also suggest alternate available domain names based upon what domain you want, even if the exact one you wanted isnt available.
If youre stuck on what domain name you want to use, you can also use some of the available domain name generators for inspiration.
Domain Wheel and Shopify Name Generator are good tools for this purpose. Youll simply need to provide a minimum of two different names, at which point the generator mixes and matches them to find new and creative domain name suggestions that might work for you.
If that doesnt work, try brainstorming some ideas with family or friends, then see which of the ideas are available to purchase.
Scaling Your Site For Your Needs
The best thing about creating a website is the endless room for improvement. Getting a clean, functional site up online is essential to building your brand. At the same time, you should always look for new ways to improve the user experience as your business grows. The Internet is a flexible place, so you never have to stick with whatever site you started with.
Need help getting your business website up and running? Take a look at our custom website packages. Well do the work for you!
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Differences Between Domain Name Url And Website Hosting
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What is the name of your domain? What is the name of your website? What is your website address? Where is your website hosted? What is your URL? ? If youre just beginning to think you need a website, you should already know that you need a domain name to create it, but do you know the difference between all the previous questions?
The purpose of this post is precisely to answer your questions and explain to you what domain names, URLs, and hosting services are. So, without further ado, lets start at the beginning.
Whats The Difference Between A Domain Name And A Url
A uniform resource locator , sometimes called a web address, contains the domain name of a site as well as other information, including the transfer protocol and the path. For example, in the URL https://cloudflare.com/learning/, cloudflare.com is the domain name, while is the protocol and /learning/ is the path to a specific page on the website.
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What Is An Url
URL stands for the Uniform Resource Locator . It is a unique identifier that is used for locating the files on the internet. Its a web address, that we use to identify a specific resource on the network.
There are parts of a URL:
- Protocol: usually HTTP or HTTPS
- Subdomain: usually www
So the format of an URL is always: protocol + subdomain + domain + path + filename.
What Is A Website
To distinguish between websites and domains, we will first dive into the former. A website is a collection of web pages and multimedia content, which may be accessed through a device such as a laptop, smartphone, or another device with access to an internet connection. A web page is the physical manifestation of these documents and is what appears on the screen when you click a link, enter a web address or query via a search engine. Web pages may display a variety of information and data, as well as sound, animation, text, color, and graphics.
Websites can be multifunctional and may be used at their owners discretion. They can be used to represent governments, individuals, organizations, or corporations. They are generally meant for a specific task, be it selling a good or service, entertaining, social networking, or educating. Every one of these publicly accessible websites makes up the World Wide Web.
When you receive a persons web address, this generally leads you to their website home page. The home page acts as the welcoming screen and construes what the site is contributing in terms of goods, services, or information. From the home page, a person may click on links in order to travel to other pages of the website.
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Use The Sistrix Toolbox For Your Evaluations
The SISTRIX Toolbox analyses and calculates all key values not only on a root domain level, but also for specific host names, directories, and URLs or paths.
When you want to evaluate urls or directories, it is important to type-in the entire path into the search bar, including the protocol.
This makes the SISTRIX Toolbox the first SEO-Tool where the database architecture was specifically designed to make these unique detailed evaluations possible.
Key Differences Between Url And Domain Name
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How To Register A Domain Name
Different name providers utilize different systems and so while this answer covers what the process typically looks like, it may differ slightly depending on the provider. For more in-depth coverage, you can check out our domain buying guide.
Youll usually start by running a domain name search. Most domain name providers will allow you to type in your desired domain name and see whether its available as well as registration price. Here on Hostinger, we also provide plenty of suggestions for other potential domain names, which can be useful when the domain that you searched for was already taken.
From there, its just a case of completing the checkout process and paying for your new domain name. Once its registered, youll be given access to a control panel with all the essential management tools.
Why People Visit Websites
When it comes to websites vs .domains, in most cases, people will go to a website for two main reasons:
- To do: Online visitors surf the web for a variety of motivations such as killing time, looking for entertainment, seeking to buy an item or service, communicating with others, interacting with social media, or paying a bill.
- To learn: We have access to the entirety of the worlds knowledge through a small device we carry in our pockets. People visiting websites may do so to find a movie time, clear up an argument, or locate the address of the nearest gas station.
At its essence, a website is your way of communicating who your business is to consumers that you will likely never meet in person. When creating a website, it is important that you know your audience and cater your website towards them, towards what they want and need. A website is not only meant to attract people to whatever it is you are trying to sell but to help convince them that they need whatever that is. Therefore, it should be organized in such a way that it is pleasing to the eye, easy and intuitive to navigate, and clearly conveys what you are providing.
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Register A Domain And Then Build A Website For Your Business
There are a variety of differences between a website and a domain, but both are vital components to creating a successful online presence. Your online success starts with a fantastic domain and an equally impressive website.
Domain.com has the tools you need to continue building your business into a success.
Kristin Crabb
Content Marketing Strategist working in the digital marketing industry. Skilled in SEO-focused content creation, keyword research and competitive analysis, interactive content, web content optimization, and landing page creation.