Domain name
The name customers type, separate from the server that stores the pages.
What does Domain name mean?
The readable name of your site, such as your business name plus .com, which browsers use to find the server where the pages actually live.
Also called: domain, web address
The name is not the website
A domain name is a label you rent from a registrar. The website is the files and the design sitting on a host. People mix the two up because one checkout often sells both, then a single login looks like it owns everything.
You can keep the name at one company and point it at pages hosted somewhere else. That split is normal. It is also why a launch can move the site without moving the name, as long as someone still knows the registrar login.
Who should hold the account
Put the registrar account in the business's name, with a mailbox you check. A designer can be a user. A designer should not be the only owner. If they leave and the renewal email goes to their old address, the name can expire while the shop is still busy.
Renewal is a yearly bill, small next to most other costs, and easy to miss. Turn on auto-renew only if the card on file is one you control. Artol can point a name you already own at a new site. We would rather not be the only people who can renew it.
Picking one without painting yourself into a corner
Choose a name you can say on the phone and spell once. Hyphens, a clever misspelling, and a string of keywords are harder for a customer to remember than a plain business name. If the .com is taken by an active company, do not buy a lookalike to siphon their visitors.
The name does not include a page path. yourname.com is the domain. yourname.com/services is a page on it. See URL for that second part, and DNS for the records that connect the name to a host.
An example
A bakery already pays a registrar for its name and pays a builder for the pages. The owner wants the pages rebuilt and hosted elsewhere. They keep the registrar login, leave the name where it is, and only change the records that point at the host. The email for cake orders stays put because those records were a different line.
Questions we get asked
Do I need a new domain for a new website?
Usually no. Keep the name customers and Google already use, and point it at the new pages. A brand-new name means you start recognition over, and you must redirect the old one if you still control it.
Is the domain included in Artol hosting?
Hosting is $249/mo and covers the site, SSL, daily backups, and two small content updates a month. The yearly registrar bill stays yours if you already own the name. Bring the login to kickoff so the launch is not stuck on access.
