Domain and Hosting Explained (For Business Owners, Not Developers)
Two words every developer uses and few explain. Understanding them protects you from the most common way small businesses get stuck.
A domain is your address — yourbusiness.com. Hosting is the land the building sits on: the server that stores your files and serves them when someone visits. You need both, and they are usually bought separately.
What each costs in India
| Item | Typical annual cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| .com domain | ₹800 – ₹1,200 | First year is often discounted; renewal is the real price |
| .in domain | ₹500 – ₹900 | Fine for India-only businesses |
| Shared hosting | ₹2,000 – ₹4,000 | Adequate for most small business sites |
| SSL certificate | ₹0 | Included free with any decent modern host |
Things you should not pay extra for
- SSL certificate — free with Let's Encrypt on essentially all modern hosting
- 'Website submission to Google' as a line item — it takes two minutes in Search Console
- Separate charges for basic email forwarding
- Annual 'maintenance' that includes nothing you can point at
Choosing a host
For a business serving Jaipur, pick a host with a data centre in or near India — the physical distance genuinely affects load time. Beyond that, look for free SSL, daily backups, and support that answers in under an hour. Cheap hosting with a server in another continent is a false economy that shows up in your Core Web Vitals.
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