SiteSmith

Do I need hosting if I have a domain?

SiteSmith · · 4 min read

Yes, if you want a website on that domain. A domain is only the name people type; on its own it shows a parking page or nothing at all. The website itself has to live somewhere, and that somewhere is hosting. But you may not need to buy hosting as a separate thing: website builders and many website services run the site for you as part of what you pay them. And if all you want is email on your domain, you need an email service, not web hosting.

What a domain does on its own

A domain you have bought and not connected to anything does very little:

  • People who type it see a placeholder, usually the registrar's "this domain is parked" page with ads, or an error.
  • Email does not work unless you have set up email forwarding or a mailbox service.
  • It holds the name for you. Nobody else can register it while you keep renewing. That alone is a good reason to own it.

Owning the domain is like holding the lease on a sign. Until there is a shop behind it, customers have nowhere to go.

Four common situations

You have a domain and no website yet

You need a website and somewhere for it to live. You can buy hosting and build or have someone build a site on it; use a website builder that combines the two; or use a service that builds the site and runs it for you. Then you point the domain at it.

You have a website on a builder such as Wix or Squarespace

You already have hosting, even if no bill says so. The builder's plan covers keeping the site online. You only need to connect your domain to it, which the builder walks you through. Buying separate hosting would be money spent on nothing.

You only want email on your domain

If you want [email protected] but no website for now, you need an email provider: Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or the mailbox service of your registrar. You set some DNS records so mail for your domain goes to them. Web hosting is not part of it. Setting up a business email address shows the steps.

Your domain is at one company and your site at another

This is normal and often sensible. Your domain might be at GoDaddy or Namecheap while the website is hosted elsewhere. The two are linked by a couple of DNS settings. Connecting your domain to a new website explains which ones.

Should you buy the domain and hosting from the same company?

You can, and plenty of businesses do. The main thing is to understand what you are buying.

Reasons owners keep them together:

  • One login and one bill.
  • Setup is often automatic.
  • One support line to call.

Reasons owners keep them apart:

  • Freedom to move. If the hosting company disappoints you, you can move the website without touching the domain, and your email keeps working.
  • Less to lose in one place. If an account is locked or a card fails, only one thing is affected.
  • Prices. A company that is cheap for hosting is not always cheap for domain renewals, and the other way round.

There is a fuller comparison in hosting and email from the same company. Whatever you choose, make sure the domain is registered in your own name and account, not in the name of whoever set up the hosting.

What gets offered when you buy a domain

Registrars present a list of extras at checkout. Here is how to think about each one when you are only buying the name:

  • Web hosting: only if you plan to build a site on it yourself, or your designer asked for it. Not needed for a builder site.
  • Website builder: only if you want that company's builder. You can always add it later.
  • Email: useful if you want mailboxes on your domain, but compare with Google Workspace or Microsoft 365 first.
  • Privacy protection: often worth having, and free at many registrars.
  • Security certificate: most hosts and builders now provide this automatically, so paying for one at the registrar is usually unnecessary for a small business site.
  • "SEO tools" or "listing" services: rarely worth it for a local business.
  • Extra domain endings (.net, .biz, .us): only if you have a specific reason.

Saying no to all of it at checkout is fine. You will not lose the domain, and nothing stops you adding services later.

How to tell if you are already paying for hosting

If you have a website but are not sure who runs it:

  1. Search your email for receipts from builders or hosting companies.
  2. Look at your card statements for yearly or monthly charges with names like Wix, Squarespace, Bluehost, HostGator, GoDaddy or similar.
  3. Look up your domain on ICANN's lookup tool. The nameservers often hint at the company.
  4. Check the bottom of your website for a "powered by" line.

Sometimes owners find they are paying twice: for a builder that runs their site, and for old hosting from a previous site nobody uses any more. Cancelling the forgotten one is an easy saving, once you have checked it does not hold your email.

Where SiteSmith fits

SiteSmith is one example of a service that builds the site and keeps it running for you, so there is no hosting to buy or set up. The site stays online at a sitessmith.com address; using your own domain on it is an optional yearly plan that also covers business email. If you already own a domain, you can keep it where it is and point it at the new site.

What to do this week

  • Check whether your domain shows anything today: type it on your phone.
  • Find out whether you already pay for hosting or a builder, and whether anything is being paid twice.
  • Decide what you actually need: a website, email, or both.
  • Make sure the domain is in your own account.

If the site your domain points at today is not one you are proud of, you can see your site rebuilt first and decide only once you have seen it.

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