The other day, I was discussing purchasing a domain with a client. They asked if a domain is like a piece of real estate. This made me realize most people don’t understand how these things work. I don’t consider myself an expert in all things domain and DNS, but I know more than most. And I want to help my fellow laypeople understand better.
To start, your website is separate from your domain.
Your website can be your property. (More on owning vs. “leasing” your website later)
Your domain is like your website’s phone number. You never fully own it; you keep the right to use it by paying annually or monthly. If you stop paying, someone else can take it.
Let’s break it down:
Domains
That’s the thing that you type into the browser’s address bar to go to a website.
It can be things like domain.com, domain.net, domain.org.
Your domain must be hosted somewhere, typically with a domain registrar. Popular ones include GoDaddy, Namecheap, and Network Solutions. Sometimes you can host your domain where you host your website, like Wix, WordPress.com, Squarespace, or Bluehost. By host, I mean you have an account where you registered the domain and pay for it annually.
My favs:
Least favs:
- Bluehost (poor support; they make it almost impossible to leave)
- Network Solutions (much more expensive than better options, poor interface, long cache time)
- Wix (no ability to change nameservers, more expensive)
DNS
DNS is like the directions to get to the property (your website).
Every domain has DNS records, or Domain Name System records. The internet needs to know where these are to find your website files, send emails, and more. It finds them by checking the nameservers. Think of these as the phone book where your number is listed. But it can get tricky—your number can be listed in one book while your directions live in another. So you can keep your domain in one place but have your DNS records somewhere else.
There are many different types of records, and each does something different.
Here are basic types of DNS records and what they do:
- A records: the actual address where your website is (the IP address).
- MX records: directions on where your mail goes
- CNAME records: a forwarding address
- TXT records:notes on your property, usually used to prove it’s yours
There are many more types that do things above my head. If you need help with that, I suggest working with a managed service provider who specializes in this.
Yes, I know this is an oversimplification of DNS. If you want to nerd out, visit: https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/what-is-dns/.
If you need help or guidance, email me at london@darnerdigital.com. If I can’t help, I can point you to someone who can.
To sum it up:
Your domain is like a phone number for your website.
Your domain gives the internet directions to find your website, your email, and more via DNS records.
Make sure you keep paying for your domain, or someone else will get it.
We can just take care of this for you so you never have to worry about it again.
