What is a Subdomain?
When developers build a website, they need a domain name. A domain name usually describes what your website is about. Then there is a subdomain that is an extension of your domain name. It is like an additional keyword added to the beginning of a website’s domain name. Using subdomains, websites can organize and separate content from the rest of the website. You can create a subdomain for a separate function — such as a blog or an online store.
Domain vs Subdomain
If the URL of a website is organicsshop.com, the domain name would be organicshop.com, whereas the subdomain is created by adding the prefix ‘blog’ before the domain name. Like this- blog.organicsshop.com
Furthermore, the top-level domain “.com”, “.org”, or “.net” is part of the URL. The second-level domain is the website name itself, i.e., “organicshop”.
How to Create a Subdomain?
You can easily create subdomains or subsections of your website like “catalogue” or “payment”.
Simply add the prefix in front of the domain and indicate exactly what the subdomain is for. So, the URLs are going be like, payment.organicshop.com, catalogue.organicshop.com. Both are still part of the main domain, organic shop, but each has its own purpose away from the main site.
If organic shop is the main website, then subdomains are the categories under the main website. You can have 500 subdomains for every domain name. The multiple subdomains are linked under the same site but have a separate entity. Your website may or may not need a subdomain. You can utilize subdomains if they are relevant to your website and services.
Do not confuse subdomains with a subdirectory. A subdirectory is part of your main website. It looks like this:
- organicshop.com/blog
- organicshop.com/products
- Whereas, a subdomain would be:
- blog.organicshop.com.
- Products.organicshop.com
Why Create a Subdomain?
Subdomains are created for organizing or redesigning the website so that it becomes easier for the users to navigate. The other times, you can host your blog or eCommerce store under a subdomain. Let’s look at the various purposes of creating subdomains:
1. Create a Subdomain for a Mobile Site
As most people today access the web through their mobile phones, you can assign a subdomain to the mobile version of your website. For example, your desktop visitors will be served ‘xyz.com’, whilst mobile visitors will be served a mobile-friendly subdomain which would be ‘mobile.xyz.com’. A subdomain for the mobile site definitely provides a better experience to the mobile users.
2. To Create an eCommerce Store
If the goal of your main site isn’t to make sales but you have a huge store traffic coming in on the main site, it can slow down the rest of your pages. In this case, having a separate subdomain for your eCommerce store makes more sense as it will make the store more accessible, transactions easier and overall better experience for the shoppers. It will appear as store.yoursite.com.
3. Creating Location-specific Sites
When a business is established in various locations, you can create sub-domains for each specific region. In this case you can lead the customers from different countries to different subdomains. It will be easier for them to navigate the website in their language and if it is an e-commerce website, the currency can be changed accordingly under different subdomains. Having a single website with a very complex website architecture will confuse the audience.
4. Creating a Subdomain for Testing the Website
Web developers create subdomains to test new plugins and updates before making them live on the web. In this way, they can be sure of the changes they are making and if they work alright. Later, the updates can be transferred to the main website.
Thus, subdomains are also great for organizing different sub-sections of a website. However, subdomains should be used only to support your main domain website if needed. For example, if you want to create an e-commerce store or sell your services, you can make use of a subdomain.
Let’s see how using a subdomain can impact your website and its SEO.
5 Ways Subdomains Impact SEO
Subdomains definitely help your website performance in many ways. People choose to create a subdomain as it positively impacts their SEO ranking. Let’s look at some ways that subdomains boost SEO:
1. Improve the On-site Experience
If you have everything under a single domain, the visitors will have a poor user experience. This is because a large and confusing site is hard to navigate. If they have poor user experience, they will spend less time on your site, which will lower your rankings.
By using subdomains for your website, you can organize your website into different sections properly. You won’t have to create new domain names for each part- content, services, etc. Subdomains make it easier for users to find all the information they need from the website. If it improves your visitors’ experience, it will increase your rank on search engines. Thus, subdomains positively impact SEO.
2. Insert Keywords Onto the URL, Improving SEO
Keywords play an essential role in SEO. Since it can be hard to include keywords in your website’s main URL, how about inserting keywords into the subdomain? Adding the relevant keywords in your subdomain is an excellent opportunity to improve SEO rankings based on those keywords. The more relevant keywords you use on the website for your product or service, the more quickly the customers can find your website.
Want a keyword research checklist? We got you covered!
3. Boosts Site Domain Authority
Domain authority determines how search engines perceive your website. A website is given a ranking score from 1-100 for its DA (domain authority). Generally speaking, the higher the DA, the more trusted the site is and the higher it typically ranks in search engines.
Although subdomains are separate entities and not a part of the main website, they can boost SEO and positively impact the ranking of the main domain. Moreover, subdomains have additional keywords; they may also rank for terms the original domain doesn’t rank highly for.
4. Targets International Markets
If you have a global business and use a subdomain to create content for a specific region, that will be highly targeted. This way, you can steer your subdomain content towards certain countries and continents.
Given that the content and language on your site reflect the demographic you want to target, your SEO ranking in certain countries can go high. This way, you can utilize subdomains to target internal markets and boost SEO rankings.
5. Reach More Users with Mobile-friendly Subdomains
Mobile-friendly sites have more relevance than ever before. The old websites were typically built for desktops. Today, you need to create mobile-friendly subdomains to reach mobile users easily.
If your developers put time and resources into building an entirely separate mobile site and hosting it at a subdomain that might look like m.domain.com or mobile.domain.com, you will reach more users. These subdomains work together with the main website domain but focus on content that works well on all devices.
Also Read – 5 Easy Steps to Change Your Domain Name Without Losing Search Engine Ranking
Conclusion
Subdomains not just make it easy to navigate extensive sections of a website but also boost your website’s SEO performance effectively. Are you thinking of creating a subdomain for your website? Reach out web development company in UK!
“I’m Suhani. I write and speak because I believe in the power of words and stories to transform us—through the written word, we can find ourselves and find each other.
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