Hosting, Domains, and the Tech Stack

Hosting

The server where your course website lives. When someone visits your course page, their browser connects to your hosting server and downloads the page.

Types of hosting:

• Managed hosting — your course platform handles it (Teachable, Kajabi, Thinkific). You don’t touch servers.
• Self-hosted — you rent server space and manage it yourself (WordPress on SiteGround, WP Engine, etc.)
• Static hosting — your site is pre-built HTML files served from a CDN (Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, Vercel). Fast and cheap but no server-side processing.

Do you need to care? Only if you’re self-hosting with WordPress. All-in-one platforms handle hosting for you.

Domain

Your website’s address. course.coach is a domain. learn.yourname.com is a subdomain.

Related terms:

• Subdomain — learn.yourname.com (the “learn” part)
• Custom domain — using your own domain instead of the platform’s default (e.g., yourname.teachable.com → learn.yourname.com)

Do you need to care? Yes. Using a custom domain looks professional and builds brand trust.

DNS (Domain Name System)

The system that translates human-readable domain names (course.coach) into IP addresses that computers use. When you connect a domain to your course platform, you’re updating DNS records.

Do you need to care? Only during initial setup. Your domain registrar and course platform will walk you through it.

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer)

The technology that makes your site use HTTPS instead of HTTP. The little padlock icon in your browser. It encrypts data between your site and your visitors.

Do you need to care? Not really — every major course platform and hosting provider includes SSL by default. If your site doesn’t have the padlock, something is wrong.

CDN (Content Delivery Network)

A network of servers around the world that delivers your course content (videos, images, files) from the server closest to each student. Makes your course load faster for students in different countries.

Do you need to care? No — all major course platforms and video hosts (Vimeo, Wistia) use CDNs automatically.

Bandwidth

The amount of data your course serves to students. Every video watched, every image loaded, every PDF downloaded uses bandwidth.

Do you need to care? Only on platforms that charge for bandwidth overage. Most modern platforms include unlimited bandwidth.

Uptime

The percentage of time your course is accessible. “99.9% uptime” means your site is down for less than 9 hours per year.

Do you need to care? Not really. All major platforms maintain high uptime. It’s a marketing metric more than a practical concern for most creators.

Tech Stack

The collection of tools you use to run your course business. A typical tech stack might include:

• Course platform: GoHighLevel
• Email: GoHighLevel (built-in) or ConvertKit
• Payment processing: Stripe (via the platform)
• Video hosting: Vimeo or Wistia
• Website: GoHighLevel or WordPress
• Automation: Zapier or the platform’s built-in automation

Do you need to care? Yes, when you’re choosing tools. The fewer tools in your stack, the simpler your life. All-in-one platforms like GoHighLevel minimize the number of separate services you need.