How it all works
Getting your business online involves a few moving parts. Most guides drown you in jargon, so here's the whole thing in plain English, using an analogy that actually holds up: think of your website as a shop.
Your domain name is your address
yourbusiness.co.uk is your address. It's how customers find you, what goes on your van and your business cards. You don't technically own a domain name — you rent it by the year, and as long as you keep renewing it, it's yours.
The registrar is the land registry
A registrar is the company you rent your domain name through — GoDaddy, Fasthosts, 123 Reg, IONOS and so on. They keep the official record that says this address belongs to you, and you pay them a small renewal fee each year to keep it that way. Whoever you rent through now, you'll carry on renewing with them — see Transfers & renewals for why.
DNS is the signposting
DNS (Domain Name System) is the set of signposts that tell the internet where to send people who type in your address. When someone visits yourbusiness.co.uk, DNS points them at the right building — your website — and makes sure your email lands in the right letterbox too.
The important bit: whoever controls your DNS controls where your address points. The address itself never has to move for the signposts to change.
Hosting is the building
Hosting is the actual shop — the computer where your website physically lives. With a TrueQuote Website, we take care of all of this: we build the shop, keep it open 24/7, fix anything that breaks, and keep it secure. You never need to think about it.
Putting it together
| Part | Shop analogy | Who handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Domain name | Your address | You rent it (we can register a new one for you) |
| Registrar | The land registry | Wherever your domain lives now — it stays there |
| DNS | The signposts | Us — we point them at your new site |
| Hosting | The building | Us, always |
Which one are you?
- No domain name yet? → I need a domain name — we'll register one for you.
- Already own a domain? → I already own a domain — usually the five-minute option.
- Hoping we'll take the whole domain off your hands? → Transfers & renewals — short answer: it stays where it is, and that's a good thing.
Whichever it is, there's nothing technical for you to do — tell us about your domain and we handle the rest.
Progress