Ask Pixel: Why aren’t people filling out my contact form?
Why is your contact form not getting submissions? Pixel explains how long forms, too many required fields, and poor user experience can cost you leads.
Okay, probably a silly question, but what is a domain name?
I know I bought one… at some point.
I just don’t know what it actually is 😬
Not a silly question! Your domain is basically your address on the internet~
Back in the day you had to type “www”, which just meant world wide web. Now you (usually) don’t.
The domain is the street address where your website lives.
It also controls your email, so it’s kind of important.
The .com part is the domain extension.
Businesses usually use .com or .net, nonprofits use .org, government uses .gov.
There are newer ones too, but .com is still the go-to for most businesses.
Okay, that helps.
Now I’m in GoDaddy and it’s worse.
If the domain is the address, what is hosting?
Is that the house?
Do I need both?
Because I feel like I paid for something and I don’t know what.
Also when you say it controls email… can I break my email in here?
Because that seems dangerous.
Hosting is the land your house sits on 🏡
You can own the address, but the house has to live somewhere.
That somewhere is hosting.
Email settings live in DNS, which is part of your domain.
You usually do not touch that yourself.
That’s a “call the tech person” situation (aka me) 😂
Okay, that metaphor actually helps.
But I opened DNS and immediately panicked.
It looks like… something I can break.
Also if I move my site later, does all this have to change again?
Or is that when I text you like “pls help” 😅
You’re not really meant to mess with DNS tbh
If you move hosting but keep your domain, I update DNS for you.
Each host has its own IP address.
I just point your domain to the new one!
Here’s where I get stuck though
If hosting is land, why can’t I just move the website house without doing DNS stuff?
Is the internet being dramatic?
And does email care if I move the site? Or does it only care about the address?
The internet is dramatic, but there’s a reason, I promise lol
Every host has a different IP address, kinda like GPS coordinates.
When you move your site, the coordinates change 🧭
DNS tells the internet where your site lives now.
Email is easier to deal with bc it only cares about the address.
As long as DNS still tells it where to deliver mail, nothing breaks 😃
Awesome, thank you so much!
Happy to help ☺️
Pixel portraits drawn by cozieoak! Instagram | Business Card
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