When you're getting a website and professional email set up for the first time, the terminology can get confusing. Web hosting, email hosting, domain registration — these are related but separate things, and understanding the difference saves money and avoids the wrong decisions early on.
What web hosting is
Web hosting is the service that stores your website files and makes them accessible on the internet. When someone types your domain into a browser, the web host serves up your site.
Web hosting has nothing to do with email unless your host also provides email services as an add-on — which some do.
What email hosting is
Email hosting is the service that manages your email inbox. It handles the servers your emails travel through, stores your messages, and delivers them when you send and receive.
A professional business email address — one that ends in @yourbusiness.co.uk — requires email hosting. That inbox has to be stored and managed somewhere.
Why they're often separate
Many businesses use one provider for web hosting and a different provider for email. This is common and usually makes sense.
Platforms like Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are built specifically for email and business productivity. They do it far better than a bundled email service from a web host, which is often basic, limited in storage, and can have deliverability issues.
Your website doesn't need to move to get a professional email address. You just need to add email hosting and point your domain's email settings to it — which is a DNS change, not a website change.
What this means in practice
If you already have a website and hosting, getting a professional business email is a separate step. It doesn't touch your website at all.
Find out more about what website hosting includes and read about what a professional business email address is — or get your email set up properly by NC Digital from £10/month.