Web Hosting

If your domain name is the street address, hosting is the building — the server where your pages, images, and content physically sit. When someone visits your site, the hosting delivers it.

Hosting comes bundled with website builders like Wix and Squarespace. With a custom-built site it’s a separate service — anywhere from $100 to $600 a year depending on quality.

Why it matters: hosting and domain registration are separate bills, often from separate companies. I regularly meet business owners paying one and assuming it covers both — then something vanishes because the other lapsed.

What to do: know where your site is hosted, who has the login, and when both bills renew. If your web designer “handles everything”, ask them to confirm exactly what’s registered in whose name.