Everything about domains, DNS, nameservers, and hosting explained in plain English. Updated for 2025–2026.
Domain Name
What it is: The address people type to visit your website. Like your shop's signboard on the internet.
Example: coolshoes.com, unfoldcro.com, amazon.in
Where to buy: Cloudflare Registrar (cheapest, no markup), Namecheap, GoDaddy, Hostinger, Google Domains (moved to Squarespace Domains in 2024)
Cost: ₹500–₹1500/year for a .com domain
Simple analogy: If your website is a house, the domain name is its street address.
Subdomain
What it is: A prefix added before your main domain. Creates a separate section of your website.
Example:
shop.coolshoes.com— subdomain "shop"blog.coolshoes.com— subdomain "blog"app.coolshoes.com— subdomain "app"
Cost: Free — unlimited subdomains on any domain you own
SEO note: Google treats subdomains as somewhat separate from the main domain. For most businesses, use subfolders (coolshoes.com/blog) instead of subdomains (blog.coolshoes.com) for better SEO juice sharing.
TLD (Top-Level Domain)
What it is: The extension after the dot — the last part of a domain name.
.com— most popular, works globally (always try this first).in— India-specific.co.in— India commercial.org— organizations, nonprofits.io— popular with tech/SaaS companies.store— ecommerce stores.ai— AI companies (trending in 2025).dev— developers (requires HTTPS)
Domain Registrar
What it is: The company where you buy and manage your domain name.
Recommended registrars (2025):
| Registrar | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Registrar | Cheapest (at-cost pricing), free DNS, fast | No .in domains |
| Namecheap | Good prices, free WHOIS privacy | Support can be slow |
| Hostinger | Cheap bundles with hosting | Domain prices increase on renewal |
| GoDaddy | Huge selection, easy UI | Expensive renewals, upsell heavy |
Nameserver (NS)
What it is: Nameservers tell the internet where your website lives. When someone types your domain, nameservers direct them to the correct server.
Example:
ns1.hostinger.com
ns2.hostinger.comHow it works:
- Someone types
coolshoes.comin their browser - Browser asks: "Where does coolshoes.com live?"
- Nameservers answer: "It lives at server IP 123.45.67.89"
- Browser connects to that server and loads the website
When to change nameservers: When moving hosting, setting up Cloudflare, or connecting to Shopify/Vercel.
DNS (Domain Name System)
What it is: The system that converts domain names into IP addresses that computers understand. The phone book of the internet.
DNS Records
Instructions that tell the internet how to handle your domain.
A Record
Points your domain to an IP address.
Type: A
Name: @
Value: 123.45.67.89
TTL: 3600CNAME Record
Points one domain to another (alias).
Type: CNAME
Name: www
Value: coolshoes.com
TTL: 3600Shopify example: Point your domain to shops.myshopify.com via CNAME.
MX Record
Tells the internet where to deliver email for your domain.
Type: MX
Name: @
Value: aspmx.l.google.com
Priority: 1TXT Record
Stores text info — used for domain verification and email security.
Common uses:
- SPF:
v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all— prevents email spoofing - DKIM: Email authentication signature
- DMARC:
v=DMARC1; p=quarantine;— email policy enforcement - Google/Facebook verification: Prove you own the domain
AAAA Record
Same as A record but for IPv6 addresses (the newer format, increasingly important).
SSL/TLS Certificate
What it is: Encrypts data between your website and visitors. Makes your site show https:// with a padlock icon.
Cost: Free with Let's Encrypt (auto-renews). Shopify includes SSL for all stores. Cloudflare provides free SSL.
2025 note: TLS 1.3 is now the standard. TLS 1.0 and 1.1 are fully deprecated. All modern hosting and platforms use TLS 1.2+ automatically.
Web Hosting
| Type | Best For | Cost | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shared Hosting | Small sites, blogs | ₹100–₹500/mo | Hostinger, GoDaddy |
| VPS | Growing businesses, apps | ₹500–₹3000/mo | Contabo, DigitalOcean, Hetzner |
| Cloud Hosting | Scalable, high traffic | ₹1000+/mo | AWS, Google Cloud, Azure |
| Serverless/Edge | Modern web apps | ₹0–₹5000/mo | Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Workers |
| Managed WordPress | WordPress sites | ₹500–₹3000/mo | Cloudways, Kinsta, WP Engine |
| Shopify (built-in) | Ecommerce | Included in plan | Shopify's global CDN |
CDN (Content Delivery Network)
What it is: Servers worldwide that cache your site. Visitors load from the nearest server — faster.
2025 leaders:
- Cloudflare: Free tier, DNS + CDN + DDoS protection + bot management
- Fastly: Used by Shopify (included automatically)
- AWS CloudFront: For AWS-hosted apps
- Vercel Edge Network: For Next.js apps on Vercel
IP Address
What it is: Unique number identifying every device on the internet.
- IPv4:
2.58.82.113(running out, most common) - IPv6:
2001:0db8:85a3::8a2e:0370:7334(the future, unlimited)
Domain Privacy (WHOIS Privacy)
What it is: Hides your personal info from the public WHOIS database.
Free on: Namecheap, Cloudflare, most modern registrars
Always enable this.
Domain Transfer
Moving your domain from one registrar to another. Takes 5–7 days. Does NOT affect your website or email.
DNS Propagation
What it is: Time for DNS changes to spread worldwide. Usually 15 minutes to 48 hours.
Check: whatsmydns.net
Tip: Lower your TTL (Time To Live) to 300 seconds before making DNS changes — propagation will be faster.
HTTP/2 and HTTP/3
What they are: Newer versions of the protocol browsers use to load websites. HTTP/3 (using QUIC) is the latest and fastest.
2025 status: HTTP/3 is supported by all major browsers and enabled by default on Cloudflare, Shopify, and Vercel. Significantly faster on mobile networks.