Subdomains are sections of a main website with their own unique purpose and structure. They are useful for organizing content, targeting specific audiences, and improving user experience. However, search engines treat subdomains as separate entities, affecting how they impact your SEO.
In this article, we will discuss subdomains in detail–their benefits, how to create a subdomain, and their impact on SEO.
What are Subdomains?
A subdomain is an additional part of your main website, created to organize different website sections. Some of the prominent websites take advantage of subdomains. Here are some website pages that can be made into a subdomain:
- Blog
- A country market website/product page
- A subdomain for every service you offer
- Support page
- Research directories
Subdomain Example
Have you ever visited our Support Page to seek answers to either domain or hosting-related queries? In fact, if you’re our customer, then we assume you would have visited the page to browse articles and tutorials specifically curated for BigRock customers.
If yes, you would probably remember the URL– support.bigrock.com. Well, that is subdomain to our main domain, www.bigrock.in, and a part of the main website.
Here are a few subdomain examples:
- Docs.google.com- Google Docs is a subdomain of google.com.
- Shop.example.com- A store that is separate from the main site.
What is a Subdomain Used For?
Subdomains serve various purposes, including organizing content types or targeting specific audiences. They keep your main site neat and focused while allowing flexibility. For example, a company selling products can use a subdomain for its online store, separating the product-focused content from the rest of the site.
Benefits of Subdomains
Using subdomains can have several advantages:
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Organization
Subdomains help you separate different sections or offerings of your website, making it easier to manage.
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SEO Impact
While search engines treat subdomains as separate websites, they can help with specific targeting and content organization, improving your site’s overall search engine visibility.
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Targeting Specific Audiences
If your website serves multiple audiences (e.g., international users or different user interests), subdomains allow you to customize content for each group.
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Add ‘keywords’ to your URL
A subdomain is perfect for inserting that word into your URL structure. Moreover, you can even use a different domain extension to suit your subdomain. Take, for example, if your domain name URL is “www.subdomain.businesssname.com”; you can modify the URL to add the keyword in the following manner: “www.subdomain.businessname.com/category-keyword.”
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Improve user-experience
If you are a content-heavy website offering numerous products and services, navigating the main website can take time and effort. Moreover, this can also make your website heavy and cluttered. This eventually leads to poor user experience as your users might need help finding relevant content. At such a time, diversifying and making a new subdomain for your niche content can be quite helpful and also help in increasing your user experience
Subdomains and SEO– Understanding The Connection
Search engines consider subdomains separate from your main website. This means that if you create a subdomain, it won’t automatically benefit from the SEO authority of your primary domain. For example, if your main site ranks well in search results, a subdomain will only inherit that ranking if it has its own SEO strategy. To ensure your subdomain works well for SEO, it’s essential to set it up correctly and avoid duplicating content from your primary domain. Otherwise, you can create a subdirectory instead of a subdomain.
Subdomain vs. Subdirectory: Which One Should You Use?
Both subdomains and subdirectories are used to organize content on your website, but they have key differences:
- Subdomains are treated as separate websites. They’re good for significantly different content.
- Subdirectories are a part of the main domain. They help keep SEO authority within the primary site.
Generally, use subdomains when you need distinct sections with separate goals or audiences. Use subdirectories for related content that needs to stay within the same domain for SEO purposes.
Common Mistakes to Avoid with Subdomains to Enhance Impact
When creating subdomains, keep these tips in mind:
- Not Having a Clear Strategy: Don’t create subdomains just for the sake of it. Make sure they serve a purpose.
- Keyword Cannibalization: Avoid using subdomains to target the same keywords as your main website. This can harm your SEO.
- Not Setting Up Google Search Console: Ensure you track both your main domain and subdomains separately in Google Search Console.
- Neglecting Internal Links: Link to your subdomains from your main website to improve user navigation and help search engines crawl your subdomains.
Conclusion
In conclusion, subdomains can be a powerful tool for organizing and expanding your website, especially when targeting different audiences or offering distinct types of content. However, creating a subdomain with a clear strategy is important to avoid SEO issues and maximize their effectiveness. We hope this article helped you understand what subdomains are and how they can effectively impact your website’s SEO rankings.
Still confused? Refer to our FAQs for clarity!
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
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Which is better for SEO? A subdomain or a subdirectory?
Subdirectories are better for SEO as they consolidate link authority and keyword gains under one domain, improving overall performance. Search engines treat subdomains as separate sites, which can dilute SEO efforts.
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When should I use subdomains?
Use subdomains when your site has distinct content sections, like a blog or shop, or when different sections require separate servers or software.
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Does Google treat subdomains as separate sites?
Yes, Google treats subdomains as separate from the main domain.
Still confused or want to share your thoughts? Leave a comment below!
