What is a Domain Registrar / URL / CMS?
Last updated: July 9, 2025
Let’s define the basic terms and how they relate to FareHarbor.
Hosting:
- Usually used for “Web hosting”.
- It’s a service for storing the site’s files on the server.
- Its characteristics mostly define the speed of the site.
- FH always provides hosting for FH built sites. This is not an extra charge.
- Examples: HostGator, Amazon Web Services, Verizon Small Business Essentials
- Hosting costs start from $5 per month
Domain:
- Usually used for “Domain name”
- A site’s unique name on the internet. E.g. google.com or adayonthevine.com.au
- Domain is a property of the client. We only need access to redirect the visitors to the different hosting (FH hosting)
Domain registrar:
- Sometimes used for “Domain hosting”
- It’s a service for managing the domain (buying, redirecting, selling etc.)
- GoDaddy, CrazyDomains, Google Domains, Namecheap
- One domain usually costs the owner about $20 per year
URL:
- Address of a given unique resource (page) on the Web
- For example https://www.adayonthevine.com.au/ is a URL of the site’s homepage, and https://www.adayonthevine.com.au/tours/yarra-valley-private/ is a URL of the private tour
CMS:
- CMS is an acronym for Content Management System
- A CMS is a software application stored on a hosting that allows users to build and manage a website without having to code it from scratch
- FareHarbor uses it’s own modification of WordPress
- Examples: WordPress, Joomla
There are platforms which combine web hosting, domain registrar and CMS services. For example WIX, Squarespace or Shopify. It means the site is built and stored with them, and the domain can be bought and managed through the same account.