We at JC Sweet & Co get this question a lot, “Do I need to pay my web hosting/domain registration bill?” or “Why should I pay my web hosting/domain registration bill?”. So, we decided to take a moment to explain why these are important bills for you to pay.
To start, a domain name is the named address or identification label for your internet address. The domain name allows others to find and access your information with an easy to remember name instead of a series of numbers. When you register this domain it secures the specific address and allows the domain name registrant to be the only one to hold that name on the internet. You will generally buy your domain name registration from a service such as Namecheap or GoDaddy. You can usually purchase your domain name separate from your web hosting services. This will protect your domain name from being used by anyone else but it will not allow for your domain to be accessed on the web. This is where your hosting service comes in.
Website hosting provides a powerful server that will keep your domain and its associated data files in constant connection with the internet. This server is managed by the hosting company so that the customers do not have to worry about the associated maintenance, upgrades or configuration and instead focus on setting up or managing their website.
Our favorite way of explaining this is with the following example. A domain name is like the address of your home while the web host is the electric company that supplies the power to that home. You want to live in a house that has power so you pay your electric bill every month. When you do not pay your electric bill the electric company stops supplying your home with power. With no power, you no longer want to be in that home.
So looking at the analogy we just explained, if you do not pay your web hosting bill when it comes due, the web hosting company will stop hosting your domain name and you will be considered “offline”. When you do not pay for your domain renewal this allows others who wish to use this domain name for their website to purchase it.
To sum up, if you do not pay your domain renewal you will lose the use of your domain name. If you do not pay your web hosting, you will find that your domain is down (off the internet due to not being connected) and you loose the use of your domain and possibly the associated email as well. This can be catastrophic to your business if you do not pay these bills but wish to remain on the web. We cannot stress the importance of paying these two bills each and every time they come due. You may feel that they are a pain or that you do not want to pay them but if you wish to have a valid space on the web in which you can conduct your business and maintain that polished and trustworthy name you have built for yourself, pay the bill and thank your web host and domain name registration holder for all that they do for you. By paying these two simple bills every year you will get to enjoy a long and happy relationship with the internet and it’s users that seek you out!
If you are interested in learning more about web development, web hosting or domain registration be sure to contact JC Sweet & Co today! We can’t wait to see what we can build together!