Your Top 10 Questions About Domains and Hosting, Answered

Every day, South African business owners ask us questions about domains, hosting, and websites. We’ve collected the 10 most common ones, the questions we get asked over and over, the ones people are sometimes embarrassed to ask, the ones that seem simple but have answers that really matter. Here they all are, answered plainly and honestly.

Q1: What’s the difference between a domain name and a website?

A domain name is your web address (like yourbusiness.co.za). A website is the collection of pages, images, and content that people see when they visit that address. You need both, but they’re different things. Many people register a domain first, then build the website later.

Q2: Can I have a .co.za domain if I’m not a registered company?

Yes, absolutely. .co.za domains are available to individuals, sole traders, partnerships, and registered companies alike. You don’t need to be formally registered with CIPC to get a .co.za domain. You just need to be a legitimate South African business or individual.

Q3: What happens if I forget to renew my domain?

Your website goes offline and your email stops working, immediately. After a grace period (usually 30 days), you may face penalty fees to reclaim it. After that, the domain is released and anyone can register it. This is why we strongly recommend enabling auto-renewal and keeping your payment details up to date.

Q4: Can I transfer my domain from another registrar to Cheap Domains for Sale?

Yes. Domain transfers are straightforward. You’ll need an EPP (authorisation) code from your current registrar, and we’ll handle the transfer process. Your website and email remain unaffected during the transfer. Contact us for step-by-step assistance.

Q5: Do I need technical skills to manage a WordPress website?

No. WordPress is specifically designed to be used by non-technical people. If you can type in Microsoft Word and attach a photo to an email, you have enough skills to manage a basic WordPress website. Adding pages, updating text, uploading images, all of it is done through a visual editor without any coding.

Q6: How long does it take to get a website live?

With our 1-click WordPress installation, you can have a basic WordPress website running within hours of purchasing hosting. Building out the full content, adding your pages, text, images, and services, takes longer and depends on how much content you have ready. A simple 5-page business website can realistically be built over a weekend.

Q7: Will my website appear on Google automatically?

No, not immediately. Google needs to ‘crawl’ (discover and index) your new website before it appears in search results. This typically takes 1–4 weeks for brand new websites. To speed this up, you can submit your website to Google Search Console (it’s free) and install an SEO plugin like Yoast SEO on WordPress.

Q8: Can I have multiple email addresses with my domain?

Yes. Your hosting plan allows you to create multiple email addresses using your domain: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and more. The exact number depends on your hosting plan.

Q9: What if I want to change my domain name later?

You can’t rename a domain, it doesn’t work like changing a username. However, you can register a new domain name and move your website to it. Your old domain can then be redirected to the new one so that anyone visiting the old address automatically arrives at your new one. We can guide you through this process.

Q10: Is my website secure?

All our hosting plans include a free SSL certificate, which encrypts data between your website and visitors. We also recommend keeping WordPress and all plugins updated regularly (WordPress makes this easy with one-click updates) and using a strong password for your admin account. We’ll cover WordPress security in more detail in an upcoming post.