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This is a topic that keeps coming up in conversations with our potential and existing customers: your company website, do you know how it works? Technically? Most people have an idea of how a website functions and what some basics are in terms of keeping it updated and maintained. But do you know what actually puts it together, makes it function, keeps it up and running?

Your web site has four main components:

  1. The domain name (yourcompanyname.com) – which you pay for from a domain registry company such as GoDaddy or Network Solutions.
  2. The DNS services – this service tells the internet where to send email and web traffic related to your domain (yourcompanyname.com). A good explanation of what DNS is: steves-internet-guide.com/dns-guide-beginners/
  3. The software that runs your web site – WordPress, Square Space, Weebly etc.
  4. Your web site hosting service – this is a physical server that is owned and managed by a company (sometimes also in tandem with domain registries like GoDaddy). The software which runs your web site (WordPress, SquareSpace etc.) resides on that server.

Ok so an example scenario to show you how this all fits together:

Your company’s domain name and DNS are provided by Network Solutions.  They are the oldest and largest supplier of registry and DNS services.

Your web site hosting company is GoDaddy. For the fees you pay them they provide WordPress software and a server (in your case a shared server with several other companies, keeping the price very low).

Network Solutions essentially makes it so your domain is owned by you and only you, and also makes sure that data going to your website and your company email addresses go to the correct source. GoDaddy allows your website to actually exists, as in it has a home on the world wide web, and it also provides the software for you to keep your website updated and looking good.

Now, if you’re still with us… what comes up a lot is just how these things are supported. Who’s keeping an eye on things? What we have experienced is that someone should be making sure your site is backed up and the software/application you use is patched.  It’s become fairly routine to have websites get hacked and damaged.  We had 3 customers experience this last year. Which is why we provide services to make sure that your site is backed up and that your website has security protocols that are up to date. This is something you can do yourself too, but if any or all of this is confusing, we highly recommend getting in touch with a IT Managed Service Provider.

Oh hey look, that’s what we are. Want to know more about how your website works and helps your business function to its best ability? Want to know how to keep it secure, running at an optimal level, and being backed up on a regular basis? We can help with that! Contact Upward Technology today!