What is the difference between a Website and a Web Page?
Despite the massive penetration of the Internet into our daily lives, many people are still not aware of what the concept of a website actually means and what distinguishes a website from a web page?
On this page, we will try to give some brief clarifications on this matter.
What is a website?
Let’s first give the “official” definition of the term website. According to Wikipedia, a website is “a collection of interconnected network resources, such as web pages and multimedia content, usually identified by a common domain name, and published on at least one web server” …
Sounds a bit complicated and vague, doesn’t it?
Put more simply, however, a website is just a place on the Internet that contains a certain set of Internet-based resources (these can be texts, pictures, or active functionalities) that are accessed through the use of a domain name.
These “resources” can be the most diverse. From simple pages with information (texts, photos, video, etc.), to complex software systems providing certain services to Internet users.
For example, a website is where you are right now – our website at WebsiteTalks.com, which provides a bunch of useful information. However, a website is also the well-known Google.com, which provides a service for finding stuff over the Internet!
As we said, while our website provides you with useful information, Google.com provides a service – searching for the information you need on the Internet.
However, in both cases, we are talking about websites.
The difference between a web page and a website
It is here that we encounter a particularly widespread misunderstanding.
We have seen how even official government bodies talk, for example, about the “Foreign Ministry web page” when in fact it is the Foreign Ministry website.
The difference between a web page and a website is the same as the difference between a page of a magazine and the entire magazine.
A page is simply a part of a site, and a site is the sum of all its pages, interconnected by a common design, functionality, and navigation.
For example, you are currently on the WebsiteTalks.com site and reading its page on the difference between a website and a web page.
What does it take to have a website?
Technically speaking, to have a website you need three things:
- a domain name,
- a web server,
- and of course – the website itself.
Let’s take a brief look at each of these elements.
Domain name
Behind the domain name is how visitors will reach your site.
Simply put, a domain name enables Internet users to reach your site by typing a given name, such as “mycompany.com”, into their browser.
Domain names are registered through specialized registrars and must be unique. Details about what a domain name is and how it is registered can be read here.
Web server
A web server, generally speaking, is simply a computer, but it has some peculiarities. It is always powered on, always connected to the Internet, and it has a set of programs installed that serve one or more websites installed on it.
In other words, the web server is the physical place where the files from your website are located – texts, pictures, video, management programs, etc.
Of course, don’t worry – if you want to have a site, you won’t need to install such a web server at home. You can simply rent part of one, at a very reasonable price.
Therefore, the concept of “web server” is related to the concept of hosting, which in turn is related to the rental of part or all of a web server, as well as the resulting services.
You can read details about what a web server and hosting are in this article.
Website
We hope we won’t surprise you here anymore. To have a website, you need to have a … website … 🙂
As we already wrote above, the website is a set of certain web-based “resources” – from information pages containing texts, photos, video, etc., to complex software systems providing certain services to Internet users.
Since actually the entire site you’re reading right now is dedicated to what websites and web design are, how and by whom websites are built, and what’s important in building them, here we’ll just wish you a pleasant reading of the rest of the pages on our site.
And if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask us.
