# What is hosting? How to find out where your website lives | Fokuus [Home](https://fokuus.be/en/) [Blog](https://fokuus.be/en/blog/) What is hosting? How to find out where your website lives # What is hosting? How to find out where your website lives What is hosting, how is it different from your domain name, and what does it cost? With a step-by-step plan to find out where your website is and who has access to it. [Anton Pycarelle](https://fokuus.be/en/about/) 15 October 20267 min read time ## In this article - [Hosting is the building, your domain name the address](https://fokuus.be/#hosting-is-het-gebouw-je-domeinnaam-het-adres) - [Where is my hosting? Here's how to find out](https://fokuus.be/#waar-zit-mijn-hosting-zo-zoek-je-het-uit) - [What does hosting cost?](https://fokuus.be/#wat-kost-hosting) - [Good hosting: access, technique and an agreement](https://fokuus.be/#goede-hosting-toegang-techniek-en-een-afspraak) - [How you know you've got it covered](https://fokuus.be/#zo-weet-je-dat-je-het-rond-hebt) You want to have something changed on your website, but whoever built it can no longer be reached. Or an invoice arrives every year from a company whose name you don't recognise. Then the question of what hosting actually is suddenly becomes very practical: where is my site, and who can access it? Where a site is hosted also determines how you edit it. Most of the sites we build run on Netlify and are connected to a GitHub repository: a change happens in the code, after which Netlify builds and publishes the new version itself. Client sites that aren't on Netlify are usually with Combell, classic hosting where you work directly in the hosting environment. ## Hosting is the building, your domain name the address Hosting means your website sits on a server that's connected to the internet day and night and sends your pages to everyone who requests them. You rent that space from a hosting company. With the cheaper packages, that's usually shared web hosting: your site sits on a server together with sites belonging to other customers. A domain name is the address people type in, hosting the building where your website actually sits. In between is a signpost, the nameserver. "A name server translates domain names into IP addresses", writes [DNS Belgium](https://www.dnsbelgium.be/nl/faq) , which keeps the register of all .be domain names. The same DNS also helps your mail find the right server. The address and the building can sit with one company. At [Combell](https://www.combell.com/nl/hosting/webhosting) you get a domain name in the first year with every web hosting package, and a [.be domain name](https://www.combell.com/nl/domeinnamen/be-domeinnaam-belgie-registreren) comes with a mailbox. But the domain name, DNS, website and mail can just as easily each sit with a different party. Domain name, nameserver and hosting: three components, each with the question of who decides. ## Where is my hosting? Here's how to find out You find out where your hosting is in four steps: look up your domain name at DNS Belgium, follow the nameservers, check who receives the invoices and verify who can log in to each account. Only for part of step 2 do you briefly dive into your browser. ### 1. Look up your domain name at DNS Belgium On the homepage of [dnsbelgium.be](https://www.dnsbelgium.be/nl) , choose the tab "Verify details" and enter your domain name. You'll then see the holder, the registrar and the nameservers, among other things. If there's a registrar you don't recognise, your registration probably runs through an intermediary, such as your web builder or hosting company; your invoice from step 3 will say who. For a .com domain, you'll find the registrar and nameservers via [ICANN Lookup](https://lookup.icann.org/nl) , but the holder's details are often hidden there. Pay close attention to the holder. According to DNS Belgium, a domain name is [linked to the domain name holder, not the registrar](https://www.dnsbelgium.be/nl/je-domeinnaam-beheren/verhuizen) . If you ever want to transfer it, you'll need a transfer code, and that's sent to the holder's email address. If your web builder or a former employee is listed as the holder, that person has a say over your address too. If you don't see a holder, the name is probably registered to a private individual: for businesses, DNS Belgium shows the name, address and email address by default; for individuals, nothing. You can still reach that holder through DNS Belgium's contact form. If something's wrong in your own details, have it corrected through your registrar, since only they can change them. ### 2. Follow the nameservers to your hosting The nameservers from step 1 show who manages your DNS. The company's name is often right there, like ns3.combell.net at Combell. The free [Dig tool from Google](https://toolbox.googleapps.com/apps/dig/) also shows the A record, with the web server's IP address, and the MX record, the server that receives your mail. Yet that IP address doesn't always point to your hosting. On our own site, the domain name fokuus.be runs through the registrar Registrar.eu, the nameservers are with Cloudflare, the website runs on Netlify and the mail runs through Google. The IP address belongs to Cloudflare, which sits in front of the site. Our own site as an example: four components, four parties. You only see Netlify in the headers: technical rules the server sends along with every page. You can check those for free in Chrome. Right-click your page, choose Inspect, go to the Network tab and reload the page. Click your domain name at the top of the list: the Headers tab then shows what the server sent ([Google's explanation](https://developer.chrome.com/docs/devtools/network?hl=nl) ). At fokuus.be, that shows "Netlify Edge", next to "server: cloudflare". Not every host puts its name in those lines. If you don't see anything recognisable, step 3 will help. If your mailbox is with the same provider as your domain or website, it belongs in every moving plan too. DNS Belgium recommends setting up the new hosting first and always making a backup before you transfer the domain name. ### 3. Line up the invoices Search your bookkeeping for invoices for hosting and the domain name. Whoever receives the invoice usually also has the customer account, and with it the control panel. If you find nothing, someone else is paying, for example your web builder who bills it as part of their own package. That's not wrong, as long as you know what happens if that collaboration ends. Check straight away whether you're paying an introductory price or the standard price. Combell states it right under its packages: price for the first year, standard price in following years. ### 4. Line up the logins Write down every account around your site and who can log into it: the registrar, the DNS management, the hosting, the management of the site itself and your mail. For the sites we put on Netlify, the hosting login isn't even the most important one. The site is built from a GitHub repository, and without access to that, you can't edit the site the way it was built. A password in an old email isn't access yet. Log in to each account yourself. Only then will you know whether it works, and whether two-factor verification isn't sitting on a former colleague's phone. ## What does hosting cost? Shared web hosting at Combell costs 19.49 to 45.99 euros per month after the first year, excl. VAT, depending on the package (Business, Professional or Expert). In the first year that's 5.99 to 14.99 euros (checked on 1 October 2026). So budget with the standard price. What else comes on top for your domain name and the build of your site is in [our cost guide](https://fokuus.be/en/blog/wat-kost-professionele-website-belgie/) . If you get hosting through your web builder, ask what's included in that price: just the space, or also follow-up and adjustments. With us, hosting and domain costs are kept separate from the work on the website. For each project we agree which parts we manage and which stay with another party; how that works is explained at [hosting and maintenance](https://fokuus.be/en/hosting-onderhoud/) . ## Good hosting: access, technique and an agreement In my view, good hosting for an SME site is hosting where you hold the keys, that fits how your site is built, and where it's clear who steps in if something goes wrong. Gigabytes and speed are something you compare only after that. First the access, for the reason from step 1: whoever is registered as the holder decides on your address. Then the technique. A WordPress site needs a server with PHP and a database, plus someone who keeps up with the updates. A static site has no database and no plugins. For the static sites we build, we therefore usually choose Netlify, with the code in GitHub: every change can be traced and rolled back. What that difference means for your maintenance is explained in [our piece on website maintenance](https://fokuus.be/en/blog/website-onderhoud-hoeveel-nodig/) . And then the agreement. Check exactly what your hosting package covers, and settle the rest: who notices when your contact form stops sending anything, and who fixes it? Without that agreement, the search only starts once something is already broken. ## How you know you've got it covered You're done when you can say, without calling anyone, who holds your domain name and in whose name, who manages your DNS, where your website and mail run, and who can log in to each of those accounts. That fits on a single sheet. Then do one more check at DNS Belgium: is your company listed as the holder, with an email address you actually read? Then you decide on your address, not someone else. If you're then planning a move to other hosting, take [Google's guide](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/site-move-no-url-changes) with you. Google recommends, among other things, lowering the TTL of your DNS records beforehand, so the new settings propagate everywhere faster, and only shutting down the old hosting once no more traffic comes in there. Hosting Domain name Website maintenance Share [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffokuus.be%2Fen%2Fblog%2Fwat-is-hosting%2F) [DotsApp](https://wa.me/?text=Wat%20is%20hosting%3F%20Zo%20vind%20je%20waar%20jouw%20website%20staat%20https%3A%2F%2Ffokuus.be%2Fblog%2Fwat-is-hosting%2F) [Email](mailto:?subject=Wat%20is%20hosting%3F%20Zo%20vind%20je%20waar%20jouw%20website%20staat&body=https%3A%2F%2Ffokuus.be%2Fblog%2Fwat-is-hosting%2F) ## Get Fokuus updates. New articles and Fokuus's updates in your mailbox. You can unsubscribe at any time. ## Anton Pycarelle Founder of Fokuus Anton builds and optimizes websites for Belgian SMEs from Kortrijk. He writes about choices and experiences from real projects. [More about Fokuus](https://fokuus.be/en/about/) ## Keep reading. [All articles](https://fokuus.be/en/blog/) Maintenance & Technique · 7 min reading time ### European Accessibility Act in Belgium: What Must Your Webshop Do? Since 28 June 2025, Belgian webshops for consumers must be accessible; microenterprises only from 2030. Who is covered, and what actually helps? [Maintenance & Technique · 7 min reading timeEuropean Accessibility Act in Belgium: What Must Your Webshop Do?Since 28 June 2025, Belgian webshops for consumers must be accessible; microenterprises only from 2030. 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