A subdomain is an extension of your area identify used to arrange separate elements of your web site.
Let’s take www.google.com.
Google makes use of a subdomain for Gmail—mail.google.com. The subdomain right here is “mail.”
Regardless of the slight URL change, you’re nonetheless on Google’s web site. Simply on a subdomain.
Let’s begin by protecting the anatomy of a URL, plus some examples of subdomains in motion.
What Is a Subdomain?
A subdomain is a further piece of knowledge added to the start of your area identify.
It’s used to arrange content material that serves a selected operate on a web site. Like an internet retailer, weblog, or careers web page.
The commonest subdomain is www, however there are lots of others that can be utilized. (We’ll cowl some examples within the subsequent part).
Domains usually have two different elements:
- The highest-level area (TLD) is the tip of your area (like “.com” or “.org”)
- The second-level area (SLD) is what you select to name your web site (often your small business or model identify)
A subdomain comes earlier than a second-level area (SLD) in a URL.
Add a protocol to the start (like HTTP or HTTPS) and a file path to the tip (i.e., what a part of the positioning you’re visiting) and you’ve got a full URL:
Right here’s an instance.
The TLD for hotjar.com is “.com”and the SLD is “hotjar.”
So, “assist” within the URL assist.hotjar.com is the subdomain. It’s the place Hotjar shops all their helpdesk content material.
Why Use a Subdomain?
Along with organizing capabilities of your web site, subdomains additionally make it simpler for customers to search out these capabilities.
Take into consideration a subdomain like a division retailer.
The TLD can be town the shop is situated. And the SLD can be the shop’s handle.
However malls are huge. So consumers should want extra help discovering what they want.
So the subdomain can be like the person division inside the retailer. Girls’s clothes, dwelling decor, sneakers, and so forth.
Every division has a selected operate and solely homes merchandise associated to that operate.
Subdomains are related—they work effectively when your web site has a number of content material that’s tough to handle on one web site.
Just a few particular use instances for subdomains embody:
- Testing a brand new model of your web site earlier than it launches
- Creating an internet retailer
- Making a separate “assist” part of your web site
- Separating your weblog from the remainder of your web site
- Organizing content material from totally different places of a franchise
- Denoting language or area
Let’s have a look at a couple of examples in motion.
Subdomain Examples
There are a number of totally different causes chances are you’ll select a subdomain. Listed below are a couple of well-liked ones:
Squarespace makes use of a “help” subdomain to deal with all of its assist middle content material.
This makes it clear to customers that every one help subjects are housed on this part of the web site.
Gymshark is one other good instance. They’ve 10+ subdomains—one for every nation they serve.
Right here’s what their Canadian subdomain seems like:
Location-based subdomains assist you to higher cater to clients who stay in numerous areas and/or communicate totally different languages.
Ecommerce retailer subdomains are one other widespread use case.
Right here’s what Adele’s on-line retailer seems like:
A “store” subdomain helps separate the ecommerce portion of a web site from its father or mother area.
On this instance from Adele, her father or mother web site options her newest music and tour schedule.
Her ecommerce retailer is totally different. It’s the place the place her followers can buy Adele’s merchandise and albums. The store web page and father or mother web site perform two distinct roles.
Lastly, let’s have a look at Disney’s “motion pictures” subdomain.
Disney has distinct manufacturers that fall into totally different classes of leisure. That’s why they both host every model’s web site on separate subdomains or create new web sites for every altogether.
For instance, Disney’s motion pictures are hosted on motion pictures.disney.com. However Disney’s stay reveals are hosted on liveshows.disney.com.
You should use an analogous technique when you’ve got separate manufacturers related along with your father or mother firm.
Subdomains vs. Subdirectories for web optimization
Google views subdomains as utterly separate web sites out of your area. So engines like google will crawl and index subdomains individually.
This implies any authority your web site earns from backlinks will not be shared between your area and your subdomains.
Subdirectories, however, are information that exist below your main area. Google views these as part of your web site. So authority will be handed out of your area to subdirectories.
Subdirectories are discovered straight after the TLD. For instance, the subdirectory in “semrush.com/weblog” is “weblog.”
Subdirectories and subfolders are the identical factor and can be utilized interchangeably.
You must solely use a subdomain if there’s a superb purpose. In any other case you danger cannibalizing key phrases (i.e., competing in opposition to your self for goal key phrases).
Subdomains can work effectively should you:
- Have a big and/or advanced ecommerce web site and desire a separate “retailer” part (retailer.examplesite.com)
- Run the positioning for one location of a bigger franchise (chicago.examplerestaurant.com)
- Cater to a language aside from that of your essential web site (en.examplesite.com)
Take into account that having a subdomain basically requires you to carry out web optimization duties for 2 separate websites (within the eyes of Google).
So when you’ve got restricted assets, sustaining a subdomain could also be out of your scope.
Subdirectories are typically simpler to keep up. And can work effectively should you merely must separate distinct sections of content material in your web site.
Professional tip: Learn our information to subdomains vs. subdirectories to be taught extra.
Easy methods to Create a Subdomain
Most internet hosting suppliers present a approach to create a subdomain inside their interface.
We’ll use the internet hosting supplier SiteGround for instance, however the course of is comparable throughout platforms.
First log in and entry the subdomain settings.
For SiteGround, go to “Web site Instruments” > “Area” > “Subdomains” > “Create New Subdomain.”
Sort the subdomain prefix you intend to make use of within the “Identify” area. Like “store,” “weblog,” “assist,” and so forth.
After you sort within the identify of your new subdomain, click on “Create.”
Now you’ve a brand new subdomain.
Be aware: It might probably take as much as a day or two to your subdomain to be absolutely applied in your web site.
Audit Your Subdomains with Semrush
You may audit particular subdomains utilizing Semrush’s Web site Audit software.
First, enter your area into the search bar and hit “Begin Audit.”
A pop-up will seem the place you’ll be able to configure your audit settings. Click on the edit button beside the Crawl scope area.
Change your area identify to the subdomain URL (e.g., assist.yourdomain.com). Then hit “Replace.”
Slender down your scope utilizing the elective objects on the left facet of the pop-up window.
If you’re achieved, hit “Begin Web site Audit.”
The Web site Audit software outcomes provides you with a abstract of how your subdomain is doing. And what you are able to do to make it higher.
Professional tip: There are a variety of Semrush instruments that assist you to analyze on the subdomain degree. Apart from Web site Audit, this consists of Visitors Analytics, Place Monitoring, and the Area Analytics toolset.
Hold Studying
Undecided whether or not a subdomain is true to your web site? Take into consideration the objective of every web page you publish.
Is it associated to the principle content material in your “www” subdomain? Or does it have a selected goal outdoors of your essential web site?
With the latter, it’s greatest to publish on a separate subdomain (like “weblog,” “store,” and so forth.).
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