If you’re considering creating a subdomain for your site, you’ll first want to make sure it’s a good fit for your business. While subdomains may be a good fit for some businesses, depending on their SEO goals , a subdirectory is often a better choice for search engine optimization .
But the topic is much more nuanced than that, so we’re going to dive deeper into it. On this page, we’ll cover the following:
- What is a subdomain and how is it different from a subdirectory?
- When to use a subdomain
- Are subdomains bad for SEO?
- Why a Subdomain Blog Isn’t Always a Good Idea
Ready to figure out what’s best for your business? Go for it!
What is a subdomain?
A subdomain is an addition placed at the overseas data beginning of your main domain name , such as blog.mysite.com. The subdomain creates a separate section of your site that remains connected to your main URL.
The subdomain will retain your branding and continue to be associated with your main site from a user perspective, but otherwise it’s largely autonomous.
Subdomain or subdirectory
The main difference between a subdomain and a subdirectory is that a subdirectory is a folder hosted within your main site, while a subdomain is a separate section.
The URL for a subdirectory will be: mysite.com/blog, where “blog” is the subdirectory.
Shold I use subdomains?
Whether you should use subdomains depends on your business goals and what you plan to use them for. Some businesses may use subdomains to:
- Target different countries or languages, as for international SEO
- Host content related to sub-brands or thematic niches
- Test and stage new pages under development
For developers
a subdomain can be an easy way to preserve honorable mention andrew the site’s link structure while they test new designs or sections of a website. Since the subdomain is a separate section from the main domain, it can be kept private and password protected.
But what about live versions of a site? A subdomain can be useful if you have a specific purpose for the content that differs from the main domain .
For example, you own a restaurant and want to start a blog about pop culture (who knows, maybe your target audience is interested in that!). Since the topic of the blog is completely separate from the restaurant, you might consider publishing it on a subdomain.
Large companies often use subdomains for their different brands.
This is what Apple does with its streaming service, for example, which it hosts at tv.apple.com. Healthcare companies can take a similar approach, creating a subdomain for information or activities specific to insurance companies.
Are subdomains bad for SEO?
Subdomains aren’t directly bad for SEO, but they aren’t always the most strategic choice. Google says that both subdomains and subdirectories are eu phone number acceptable , but subdomains are crawled and tracked separately.
Your subdomain will likely be independent for SEO factors like link equity, and it likely won’t pass any link equity to your main domain either.
