A domain name is the 'web address' of a website,
eg. http://www.allthebestbaskets.co.uk.
It is what you type into your browser when going directly to a website. Every website needs one.

Webgloss can help and advise when choosing your domain name and, as it is imperative that your business does not 'lose' its domain name, we renew them with the regulating authorities once a year (£21 fee).

There is little point in owning the website code but it's a different matter with your domain name - you should own this! Webgloss will register your domain in your name. This means that you, the business owner, is the 'registrant' and you own your domain name. Some other web designers register domain names in the web design firm's name - this means that they 'own' them.

This matters on so many different levels.

We often have new clients joining us with existing websites that we redesign. If their previous web designer has not registered their domain name in the business owner's name then we have to inform them that they don’t actually own their own domain name.

Without legal ownership of your domain name you may find that you have difficulty with transferring your domain name to a new server /web designer and you may have difficulty later on proving that the domain name should be yours as you are the business owner. For instance, if you decide to sell your business the new owner will probably want the domain name as part of the deal. Legally it won't be yours to sell. This could seriously devalue your business or stop the sale from happening altogether.

The 'registrar' is a company that is authorised to register domain names. A web designer will normally have an account with a registrar so that they can register domain names for their clients. The 'registrant' is the owner of the domain name - which should be you! The 'admin contact' & the 'technical contact' are normally set as the web designer or your hosting company as they are the ones who can sort out any 'issues' arising with the domain name.

Hosting is just a term used for the area on the Internet where a website resides. The Internet (even the so called 'Cloud'!) is just a series of servers (similar to your desktop computer) that contain hard drives (just like the one in your computer, only on a massive scale). There is no mystery to the world of storage online although the terminology often seeks to create one. The most complex aspect is the way all the different servers communicate with each other - their 'networks'.

Every website needs a home on the Internet and this will be on a server. The type of server matters because some are incredibly slow, outdated and run old versions of server software (this type of hosting is usually cheaper!). Some servers crash frequently which causes websites to be 'offline' and others are efficient and well maintained.

Webgloss hosts websites on reliable, business quality servers and includes all hosting in your monthly fee.