To publish a site created with WordPress on the Internet, you need to register a domain in addition to hosting services. In this article, we have summarized information about registering a domain in addition to hosting services.
What is a Domain ?
A domain is a string of characters that is associated with a server’s IP address.
Servers are assigned IP addresses for communication on the Internet, and by linking these IP addresses to domains, it becomes easier for people to understand which sites they are accessing.
The domain of this website is website-industries.com.
What is a domain name?
A domain name is a string of text that maps to an alphanumeric IP address, used to access a website from client software. In plain English, a domain name is the text that a user types into a browser window to reach a particular website. For instance, the domain name for Google is ‘google.com’.
https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/dns/glossary/what-is-a-domain-name
What is a Domain Registrar ?
Below is a written explanation of domain registrars.
The domain is regulated by ICANN.
https://www.icann.org/resources/pages/what-2012-02-25-en
A domain registrar is a company that manages domains managed by ICANN on behalf of the final customer.
The relationship between Hosting Services and Domains
We will explain the relationship between hosting services and domains.
A hosting service is a service that stores website data such as WordPress in storage on a server connected to the Internet. Some services provide domain management in addition to hosting services, but the hosting service itself does not manage domains.
If you use a hosting service that only provides hosting services, you will need to register your domain with a domain registrar and link the domain to the hosting service.
To link your domain to the IP address of the server
To link your domain to the IP address of the server provided by your hosting service, edit the DNS records in your domain registrar’s domain management screen.
Edit DNS record
There are several types of DNS records. Below are some examples of typical DNS records.
| Record | Feature |
| A | IPv4 |
| AAAA | IPv6 |
| NS | Name Server |
| MX | |
| TXT | text |
Bind a domain to your server
To link your domain to your server’s IP address from your domain registrar’s domain management screen, edit your DNS A or AAAA record.
If the server’s IP address is managed by IPv4, edit the A record. If the server’s IP address is managed by IPv6, edit the AAAA record.
Hosting Service that you can register and manage the domain
Some hosting services allow you to register and manage your domain.
This allows you to register and manage your domain at the same time as the hosting service, making it easier to manage your website.
Benefits of having domain and server management done by the same company
Some of the benefits of having both hosting and domain management services at the same time include:
- The documentation provided by the hosting company is comprehensive.
- Billing and administration can be handled by the same company.
- You can contact the same company for support inquiries regarding linking domains and servers.
If your hosting service provider and domain registration provider are different
Below are some explanations for when your hosting service provider and your domain registration provider are different.
Basically, there are no cases where a hosting service company and a domain management company cannot be combined. This is because the domain management service provided by a domain management company simply determines which server’s IP address to link the contracted domain to.
If there are domains that cannot be registered using the domain registration service offered by the hosting service provider, you can register the domain using a service provided by a company other than the hosting service provider.