Domain, hosting and SSL get bundled into one invoice and talked about as if they were one thing. They are three separate services, often from three different suppliers, and knowing which is which matters most on the day something goes wrong or you decide to move.
The domain: your address
Your domain — themarketingguru.ca — is a name you rent, usually annually, from a registrar. You never own it outright; you hold the registration as long as you keep renewing.
| Thing | Typical annual cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| .ca domain | $15–25 | Requires a Canadian presence. A useful local trust signal |
| .com domain | $12–20 | The global default; usually taken |
| Privacy protection | $0–10 | Free at good registrars. Hides your details from public WHOIS |
| Premium domain | $100s–$1000s | Resold names. Rarely worth it for a local business |
Two habits prevent almost every domain disaster: switch on auto-renew, and keep the registrant email address one you still read. Domains lapse because a renewal notice went to an address nobody has opened since 2021.
Hosting: where the site lives
Hosting is the server that stores your files and serves them to visitors. What you need depends entirely on what kind of site you have.
| Type | Cost/month | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| Static / edge hosting | $0–15 | Pre-built HTML sites. Extremely fast, nothing to hack |
| Shared hosting | $5–20 | WordPress and small database-backed sites |
| Managed WordPress | $25–60 | WordPress with updates, backups and security handled |
| VPS | $20–100 | Custom applications; you administer the server |
| Website builder (Wix, Squarespace) | $20–50 | Hosting bundled with the editor; the site is not portable |
What actually distinguishes good hosting from cheap hosting is not disk space, which is never the constraint. It is uptime, response time, whether backups exist and have been tested, whether support answers, and whether you can leave with your files.
DNS: the directory that connects them
DNS translates your domain name into the address of the server holding your site. It is why domain and hosting can be with different companies — the domain simply points wherever you tell it.
- A record — points the domain at a server's IP address.
- CNAME — points a name at another name, e.g. www at your host.
- MX records — where email for your domain goes. Independent of your website: moving hosts does not have to touch email, and touching MX records carelessly is how a business loses email for a day.
- TXT records — verification and email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC).
- TTL — how long the answer is cached. Lower it to 300 seconds a day before a planned move so mistakes are correctable in minutes.
SSL: the padlock
An SSL certificate — properly TLS — encrypts traffic between the visitor's browser and your server, which is what produces https and the padlock. Without it, browsers display a 'Not secure' warning that visitors read as 'this business is dodgy'.
Since Let's Encrypt made certificates free and automatic, essentially every reputable host provides one at no cost, renewing automatically every ninety days. If you are being charged meaningfully for a basic certificate, ask why.
| Certificate type | What it proves | Worth paying for? |
|---|---|---|
| Domain Validated (DV) | You control the domain | Free, and correct for almost every small business |
| Organisation Validated (OV) | The organisation was verified | Rarely necessary |
| Extended Validation (EV) | Extensive verification | No. Browsers stopped displaying the green bar years ago |
| Wildcard | Covers all subdomains | Only if you run many subdomains |
Two things to verify after any launch or renewal: that the certificate covers both the bare domain and www, and that http requests redirect to https rather than serving both versions.
Who should own what
| Asset | Registered to | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Domain | You or your company | It is your business address. Non-negotiable |
| Hosting account | You, with your provider as a user | You can move without permission |
| Google Business Profile | You as Owner, agency as Manager | Ownership transfers are hard to reverse |
| Analytics & Search Console | You as Owner, agency with access | Your historical data stays yours |
| Website files & content | You | Should be stated in writing |
| You | Losing business email is worse than losing the site |
None of this is about distrusting the person who built your site. It is about what happens if they retire, get ill, change careers, or you simply decide to work with someone else. A good supplier will set it up this way without being asked.
A quick self-audit
- I know which company my domain is registered with and I can log in.
- The registration is in my name or my company's name.
- Auto-renew is on and the billing card is current.
- The registrant email is one I still read.
- I know where the site is hosted and I can log in.
- Backups exist, and I know how to get one.
- The site loads over https at both the bare domain and www.
- The certificate renews automatically.
- I have a record of my DNS settings, including MX records.
- I am the Owner of my Google Business Profile.
Common questions
- Can I move my website to a different host?
- Yes, provided you have your files and your domain. Copy the site to the new host, test it, then repoint DNS. Lower the TTL beforehand and take a backup first. Sites built on closed website builders are the exception — the content is exportable but the site itself usually is not.
- Do I need a .ca domain for a Canadian business?
- Not required, but useful. A .ca signals Canadian presence to both customers and search engines, and .ca names are more often available than .com. Many businesses register both and redirect one.
- What happens if my domain expires?
- Your website and any email on that domain stop working. There is normally a grace period of several weeks to renew, then a redemption period with a substantial fee, then it is released for anyone to register. Auto-renew avoids all of it.
- Is free SSL as good as a paid certificate?
- For a standard business website, yes. The encryption is identical. Paid certificates buy a different validation level and warranty terms that do not matter to a small business site.