What Is a Domain Registrar? A Beginner’s Guide to Domain Names for Your Website

What is a domain registrar, and why should you care? If you’re starting a website (or you already have one), this is one of those things that seems confusing but is actually pretty simple once someone explains it. I find many of my clients confuse domain registrars with web hosting, so let’s clear that up today!

In this post, I’ll break down what a domain registrar is, how it’s different from web hosting, why you might want to register more than one domain name, and how to keep an eye on a domain name you want.

Hosting vs. Domain Registration

When you start a website, you need two things: a host and a domain registrar. They are NOT the same thing, even though some companies (like GoDaddy) offer both services. Here’s the difference.

A domain registrar is where you register your domain name. Think of it as claiming your address. You’re telling the world “this name is mine.” Examples of domain registrars include Namecheap, GoDaddy, NameSilo, Cloudflare Registrar, and Google Domains (now Squarespace Domains).

A web host is where your website’s files actually live. Think of it as renting the building. Your host stores all your pages, images, plugins, and everything else that makes your website work.

You need both! Your domain name is the address that points people to the building (your host) where your website lives. And here’s an important thing to know: you don’t have to get them from the same company. In fact, many web developers (myself included!) recommend keeping your domain registrar and your web host separate. That way, if you ever need to switch hosts, your domain name stays put and you just point it to the new host.

Domain Names

A domain name is the web address people type to get to your site. Examples: shelleyweb.com, target.com, kodaly.org. That’s it! It’s your address on the internet.

Here’s a fun tip: you can have multiple domain names that all go to the same website! One of my favorite customers used to refer to my site as “pitchpublication” instead of “pitchpublications” (no s!) whenever she talked about it in Facebook groups. So I bought pitchpublication.com and redirected it to my main domain. That way people get to the right place no matter what!

I actually own several variations of my domain name: pitch-publications.com, pitchpublication.com, etc. It’s not required, but it’s something to think about, especially if your business name is easy to misspell.

Domain Extensions

Domain extensions (also called Top Level Domains or TLDs) are the parts that come after the .

Examples:

• .com
• .net
• .link
• .org

Different domain extensions were created to show what kind of website it is.

• .com – commercial business
• .net – networks (such as email or internet service providers)
• .org – organizations (non-profits often use this but you don’t have to be non-profit)
• .ca, .uk, etc. – country-specific and are sometimes restricted to the residents of that country

Here’s the good news: there are NO SEO advantages on the technical side to a .com vs. a .net or any other extension. Google treats them all the same. The only real advantage of .com is that it’s the most popular for businesses, so it might be the first thing someone tries when typing an address straight into their browser. If your .com is available, grab it. But if it’s not, a .net or another extension works just fine.

Domain Registration – called a “domain registrar”

When you buy a domain name, you visit a site like Godaddy.com, Namecheap.com, etc. These are examples of domain registrars. Search your domain name and $10-$20/year later you are the proud owner of a new domain name! It’s not often the world agrees on something, but everyone managed to agree that we should respect there should be ONE pitchpublications.com and that applies worldwide.

How confusing would it be if 10 people could register the same domain name? Luckily a group called the “ICANN organization” exists to make sure everything is running smoothly when obtaining a domain name. Businesses that register domain names (like GoDaddy) have contracts with ICANN to register you as the owner of that domain name world wide. What if the domain name you want is taken? You can reach out to the owner of the name and try to buy it or just keep an eye on it and hope they forget to renew! I have my eye on a few! I use https://www.expireddomains.net/ to keep up with the status of them!

What If the Domain Name You Want Is Already Taken?

This happens ALL the time. You think of the perfect domain name, search for it, and… someone already has it.

You have a few options. You can reach out to the current owner and try to buy it (sometimes they’re willing to sell, sometimes they want WAY too much money). You can try a different domain extension (.net instead of .com, for example). Or you can just keep an eye on it and hope they forget to renew!

I have my eye on a few domain names right now! I use StatusCake to monitor domains I’m watching. 🙂

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