In an ideal world, we would never have to worry about switching web hosts. But the reality is that people tend to seek a happier place for their website quite often. There are a lot of reasons someone could decide to do that, such as sluggish hosting, a lack of quality in customer support, etc. Moving from a different hosting provider to our services is one of the most common requests here at Hostmargin. Switching web hosting providers usually involves transferring both your domain name and website. Still, many first-timers feel confused about whether these are two separate processes. This post aims to provide you with a clear understanding of the difference between transferring a domain registration and a website's content, and the needed steps on how to painlessly perform the switch.
What's the Difference Between a Domain and a Website?
It's somehow natural to think a domain name and a website are the same. While they are closely related, they require separate services. To open your website, by typing its name in the browser, you need a domain name. Our domain name, for example, is hostmargin.com. A domain name has to be registered with an accredited company called a domain name registrar.
Registering a domain, however, doesn't automatically create a website - it only means that you've registered the domain. Web hosting, on the other hand, is the service needed to make your website appear online. Behind every domain is a web hosting service where the files that compose your website are stored. Thus, to create a website you need an account with a web hosting company. The website hosting company enables you to lease space on their web servers where you can store your website files and make them available for visitors to view.
After you have registered your domain, you can use it at any web hosting company. Regardless of where you decide to host your website's files, your domain remains yours for the duration of its registration.
Hostmargin is a web hosting provider and allows for you to choose from 500+ top-level domains (TLDs). This means you can register your domain name, build a website for it, and get it on the web - all in one place. With each of Hostmargin's web hosting plans, you also get one free domain transfer, as well as a free domain name renewal for one year if you transfer your domain from a different registrar to us.
We also offer free website transfers, about which you can read below.
Free Website Transfers per Hosting Plan
You have multiple websites - no problem. One of the great features about Hostmargin is that we will transfer up to three websites per hosting plan at no extra cost, and our technical support team would be glad to assist you with that. Additional websites can be transferred at an affordable price. The transfers can be from your old host to us, or between our servers. Not only that, but if your old host is using cPanel we can transfer the entire cPanel account over to us, keeping all of your data intact.
