Domain
This is the web address used to access a website on the Internet. A domain name on the Internet is the same as a house address.

Hosting
This is how a website is made live on the Internet. There are machines called “servers” that are connected to the Internet. Each server runs a software program that was specially designed to make websites live on the Internet. There are two different types of hosting available; shared and dedicated. Most smaller websites will reside on a server that offers shared hosting, which means multiple websites can be hosted on a single server. Larger websites typically utilize dedicated hosting, which means that often one entire server, or more, could be dedicated to a single website.

Ecommerce Website
An ecommerce website is the type of website that is needed to have a store online. There are many companies that offer a variety of different types of ecommerce platforms to build a store on. Depending on the type of store you want to open online will determine what type of ecommerce storefront that you will choose.

If you have any questions about other website terminology that may not be mentioned above, contact GnomeMedia today and we can help.

Say you own a domain name that is for your own personal website. For example, www.AmandaNuckolls.com. Given that this spelling is an unusual way to spell “knuckles”, I always recommend purchasing the common misspelling as well (www.AmandaKnuckles.com) because you never know how much website traffic you could be missing out on. Any domain name misspellings you purchase can be set up as “redirects” to your main domain name. This can usually be done through the admin of your hosting provider.

Another reason to own multiple domains is if you are able to find domains that include specific keywords that apply to the interests of your personal or business website. For example, an e-commerce shopping cart provider might want to purchase www.shoppingcart.com as a domain that will help them to gain additional traffic from users looking for this type of service using a search engine.

Here are a few “how to set up a domain redirect” links provided by some of the top hosting providers:
- GoDaddy
- DreamHost
- Bluehost
- HostGator