What exactly is a subdomain and how does it help?
The process of starting an online presence is fairly straightforward: Purchase a domain name and create a website. When you consider expanding your website, things get more complicated.
You may be aware that a domain is the part of a URL that tells you where a website is. A domain and a TLD typically house a website’s entire infrastructure. However, there are times when a section of a website grows to the point where it impairs both the performance of the site and the user experience. Subdomains can come in handy in those situations.
This article will show you how to create a subdomain on your own, discuss subdomain examples, and explain what a subdomain is.
Subdomains: what are they?
A prefix that is added to a domain name to separate a section of your website is called a subdomain. Subdomains are typically used by site owners to manage extensive sections that require their own content hierarchy, such as support platforms, online stores, or blogs.
Subdomains function independently of their parent domain. You can develop a section of your website without confusing the site’s overall purpose thanks to this distinction. You increase your chances of becoming an authority in your niche and getting organic traffic as a result.
Optimize your string to clearly indicate the purpose of your standalone site, regardless of why you created a subdomain. Also, make sure the SSL certificate provider you use protects your subdomain.
A subdomain can be created at any time, despite the fact that selecting a domain name is one of the first steps in building a website. You are entitled to unlimited subdomains when you register a domain name, including anything starting with “abc.” to “xyz.”
Subdirectories versus subdomains
A subdirectory is an organizational folder that is nested within a domain, whereas search engines view a subdomain as distinct from its domain. Search engines are shown that the root domain is supported when content is separated under a subdirectory rather than a subdomain. Therefore, a subdirectory would be more effective at achieving your objectives than a subdomain if you have a complex component of your website that complements the entire.
A subdomain might be a good idea for a dog adoption agency collaborating with a cat adoption agency on a special project. But if they were a general pet adoption agency, they might want to create subdirectories for their content about cats and dogs to show Google that these kinds of pet adoptions are related.
Examples of subdomains
Let’s take a look at a few scenarios in which a subdomain might be utilized now that we know the answer to the question “what is a subdomain?”
1. eCommerce.
Businesses frequently decide to develop a distinct site architecture to manage transactions because of the complexity of online stores. Because of this distinction, businesses are able to provide additional features beyond what the primary website requires or has available. For instance, a platform where users can purchase games for their consoles is the store.playstation.com subdomain.
2. Mobile.
Most of the time, mobile websites hosted on online platforms that need to be changed to work well on mobile devices are hosted on separate subdomains. For instance, Facebook developed a distinct mobile user interface under m.facebook.com. The layout was designed by the company to fit the oblong shape of a mobile device.
3. Location.
Subdomains make it simple for businesses to provide content that is geo-specific or localized. For instance, Yahoo curates news about the United Kingdom on uk.yahoo.com and US news on us.yahoo.com.
4. Audience.
Businesses can use subdomains to create distinct websites with distinct audiences and even password-protect them if necessary. The autonomous.lyft.com subdomain is where those who are interested in Lyft’s self-driving initiative can find information. The majority of Lyft customers reside in the ride.lyft.com subdomain.
5. Blog.
You might want to think about putting your blog on a subdomain because blogs frequently target topics and keywords that are not directly related to the rest of the website. The vast website of the Library of Congress attracts a different audience than its blogs do. As a result, blogs.loc.gov provides readers with access to hundreds of articles via a distinct interface, allowing them to browse and search for the content they are looking for.
6. Support.
Site owners have the option of creating a dedicated support platform under a subdomain in the event that the Frequently Asked Questions pages do not adequately address all customer inquiries. The platform can be made more user-friendly and search engine-optimized by this organization.
A quick look at support.apple.com reveals that the platform’s subdomain has a distinctive, intricate, and helpful structure for users who require assistance.
7. Content.
Working with dedicated subdomains is frequently chosen by websites that produce extensive, highly branded content for particular topics. Subdomains can be used by brands, teams, publications, and products with different content to stand out from the umbrella organizations.
The content on The New York Times functions very differently from the content on NYT Cooking (cooking.nytimes.com), as one would expect. Each brand can demonstrate its own authority to search engines by separating the content.
8. Language.
Organizations can keep their web addresses clear and consistent by creating distinct subdomains for each language. For instance, each language has its own subdomain on Wikipedia. Not only does the es.wikipedia.org homepage differ from the en.wikipedia.org homepage in terms of language, but it also differs in content.
9. Forum.
Forum creators frequently make use of dedicated subdomains due to the complicated nature of building online communities. Consider wordreference.com: The root domain functions as a bilingual encyclopedia. On the other hand, forum.wordreference.com is a place where users can ask questions and talk about the meaning of terms and phrases that haven’t made it into the root dictionary and how to use them correctly.
10. Function.
For their AmazonSmile campaign, Amazon made a subdomain. Amazon donates 0.5 percent of eligible purchases made on smile.amazon.com to the charity of the user’s choice.
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