Domain vs. Subdomain: Which Should You Use?

Domains, subdomains, subdirectories - it gets confusing, right? As someone who’s been through it all, I understand the challenge of deciding between a domain and a subdomain. But don’t worry, I’ll be your guide for today.

In this domain vs. subdomain showdown, I’ll show you when it’s best to create a subdomain or just stick with your main domain, how subdomains affect SEO, and how subdomains are different from subdirectories. Let’s dive in!

Subdomain vs. Domain Explained

Your domain or domain name is the single, overarching address that visitors type in their browsers to find your website.

A subdomain is used to create a “mini web” that’s separate from your main website to host unique content.

When you want to create a website, you will always buy a domain name name to start with. You can then choose whether to create a subdomain depending on your needs.

A subdomain acts as a separate website from your main website, which means you can use a dedicated content management system, website template, plugins, analytics tools, security features, etc. This can mean more flexibility when categorizing your website content.

So when should you use a subdomain? We’ll get into that soon. But first, let's discuss domain names.

What Is a Domain Name?

A domain name is the address that visitors type in their browsers to find your website.

It’s incredibly important that your domain name is short, easy to spell, and memorable. After all, part of the whole point of a domain name is to make a website easier to find and remember.

Domains contain familiar letters and numbers and serve as human-readable aliases to complex numeric IP addresses that people would have had to type to find your website.

Whenever someone tries to visit your website, the domain naming system (DNS) - which is basically the address book of the internet - points the visitor’s web browser to the right server hosting your website. (Because your domain is so important, you might wonder how long you can register it for. You can learn more in How to Buy a Domain Name Forever: Is It Possible?)

Anatomy of a Domain Name

In a domain name, whatever comes after the last dot is called the domain extension, or top-level domain (TLD). To the left of that is the website name, or second-level domain. Anything after that is the third-level domain.

You shouldn’t confuse the domain name with your URL. The URL is the absolute path to your website or webpage and contains the domain name plus the protocol.

When to Use a Domain

If you have a website, you will have a domain name. It's the main face of your brand. Whenever a visitor thinks about your website, your domain name is what comes to mind.

You should register a new domain whenever you want to create a website in a completely different industry or niche from your current brand.

So for example, let’s say you run a tech blog where you review tech gadgets but now you want to start creating content around food. In this case, it’s much better to register a new domain name for this new type of content and the brand around it.

What Is a Subdomain?

A subdomain is a distinct section of your main domain, used to organize and separate different types of content on your website. While it remains part of your primary domain, a subdomain allows you to create a specialized area with its own unique content, often for a specific purpose or audience.

This can be useful for hosting niche content, a blog, an online store, or even a separate site in a different language, all while still being connected to your main website. For example, if your main domain is example.com, a subdomain might be blog.example.com or shop.example.com.

In the single-domain structure, all your website content is under the same domain and is organized into folders or subdirectories (we’ll explain these in detail soon). A subdomain, however, carves out a particular area in your website and acts as its own separate, mini website outside the content hierarchy of your main domain.

You can learn more about subdomains in our piece that looks at subdomain vs. subdirectory.

Anatomy of a Subdomain

So what do subdomains look like? A subdomain typically comprises the name of the subdomain added to the main domain as a prefix.

For example, Google's main domain is google.com, but it also has a dedicated subdomain at support.google.com for its support portal and news.google.com for its news website.

When to Use a Subdomain

When you create a subdomain, you are simply building off your existing main domain to create a separate environment dedicated to a particular category that still supports your main website’s goals.

Subdomains also use the terminology of parent and child. So, the root domain is the parent and the subdomains are the child domains.

So what are some common use cases for subdomains? Let’s go through them one by one:

Creating a Blog

You can use a subdomain to create a blog section that hosts articles and informative content related to your industry. A great example of this in action is the Hubspot blog we mentioned earlier, blog.hubspot.com. Using this subdomain, the brand publishes articles on relevant topics separate from the business website, which is focused on displaying and selling the company’s core products.

Hosting Forums or Communities

Subdomains are also a common choice when creating a forum or community where your audience can learn and share insights. Using Hubspot once again as an example, the platform has a community with the community.hubspot.com subdomain:

Organizing Large Websites

If you have a large website with a ton of content around a broad topic, you can use subdomains to create subcategories targeting sub-topics under the main topic.

For example, if you manage a large blog on marketing topics, you can use subdomains to create mini websites dedicated to the different types of marketing - email, affiliate marketing, SEO, social media, etc.

Many websites, however, still use subdirectories to organize large-content websites. It all boils down to your goals and preferences. A subdomain can work well if you are trying to establish authority in a very specific sub-niche by hosting a ton of content for that topic.

Creating Support Portals

Many brands also use subdomains to create and host support resources. Want to create a knowledge base, FAQs section, tutorials, or a live chat portal for customers using your product? A subdomain may make the most sense here.

For example, Google uses a separate subdomain, support.google.com, for its support portal. This sets the content apart from the main Google search engine product:

Setting up an Online Store

Many blogs integrate online stores on their platforms using subdomains. Let’s say you manage a fashion blog and want to start selling your fashion products or promote other brands’ products via affiliate links.

You can set up a dedicated store using a subdomain at shop.yourdomainname.com.

If you’re running an online store, you’ll be collecting sensitive customer data (payment information, addresses, etc.), and your payment pages require higher levels of security than a regular blog. By creating a subdomain, you can install higher-grade SSL certificates and security packages that the rest of your website may not need.

You can also install ecommerce-specific plugins, themes, and widgets for your store to enhance conversions without affecting the functionality of your main website.

Running Isolated Tests

Many webmasters also use subdomains as mock staging sites to test new features and plugins before they deploy them on their main website.

Whether you are redesigning your website or want to add new functionality, a test website allows you to see how these tweaks will look without the risk of breaking your main website.

Sarah Blocksidge, the marketing director at Sixth City Marketing shares:

“A development site is pretty much a carbon copy of your website that can live on a subdomain and can be used to try design changes, test different templates, trial run plugin updates, and much more. This way if something doesn’t go as planned, the changes don’t affect your real site.”

This website is, of course, hidden from regular users by being blocked from Google searches.

How to Register a Domain

The best way to register a brand new domain name is to use the domain name search tools provided by some of the best web hosting providers. These web hosting providers are also ICANN-accredited registrars and allow you to register domain names through their platforms.

Many web hosts provide domain name registration, which makes setting up a new domain easy. Once you have a domain name, web hosting provides space on a server so you can make your domain and content available on the internet.

Our Web Hosting Finder tool can help you choose the best provider for your needs - just answer a few questions and you'll receive your personalized recommendation. You might also want to read up on some web hosting basics and understand the different types of web hosting before choosing a host.

However, if you only want to purchase a domain name and are not ready to host a website, irrespective of the provider you choose, the process for registering a domain name is typically similar.

Step 1

Using BlueHost as an example, type the domain name you want in the domain search tool:

I also tried out BlueHost’s built-in AI generator- just give it a prompt on your website’s purpose and it generates domain name ideas for you.

Step 2

You will need to brainstorm different ideas to find an available domain. It’s not likely that you’ll find a domain with one or two dictionary words or a domain containing popular keywords as these are extremely competitive, especially if you want a .com TLD.

Some people recommend that webmasters try to get a .com domain since most people who hear about your brand will assume you use this TLD. Domain name stats show that of all the 1600+ TLD registrations, the .com TLD makes up 36% of them.

However, the data around whether a .com domain performs better is mixed, and alternative domains are becoming more common. Ultimately, it’s up to you to do your research and decide what works best for your company and brand.

Step 3

After you proceed, you can select add-ons to your domain name. Most domain registrars include domain privacy (a security feature that hides your info from the WHOIS database) by default.

Here, you can also choose whether you want web hosting or any other niche marketing services.

After that, it’s just a matter of creating an account and paying for your domain name.

Click ‘Submit’ and voila! You should receive an email confirmation on your registered domain plus a link to log in to your account.

How to Create a Subdomain

Once you have a domain, you can create a subdomain in just a few clicks. Log in to your control panel account in your web hosting dashboard. Most web hosting providers use cPanel, so we’ll use that for this guide.

Under “Domains” click on “Subdomains”:

On the next page, simply choose the domain from your portfolio that you want to add the subdomain to, type in the subdomain name, and click ‘Create’:

That’s it!

Other Things to Consider with Subdomains

What other things should you know when considering subdomains? Let’s take a look.

Subdomains vs. Subdirectories

When I created my first website, I used to think subdomains were the same as subdirectories but quickly learned that they were very different.

A subdirectory is a folder under a main domain name (it could be your root domain or a subdomain) that stores your website’s content in a hierarchy. Subdirectories are often called subfolders, a term that can make their hierarchy easier to understand.

Using our domain name, Softailed.com, you can see that one of our platform’s core, our Best Picks, lives in a subdirectory.

The subdirectory for our comparison page is “best" and the folder path to find this page is softailed.com/best.

On our Best Picks page, we have lists of the best software tools for many software categories - web hosting, project management tools, CRMs, webinar tools, etc. - and each category has its own subdirectory.

Our web hosting subdirectory is under the “best” subdirectory and the path or address to this page is softailed.com/best/web-hosting.

You can have subdirectories in subdirectories under your main domain name. Your subdomains can also have subdirectories nested under them. You can also have multiple levels of subdomains, although this is uncommon.

Subdomains and SEO

In terms of SEO, domains don’t directly pass link juice or domain authority to your subdomain (and vice versa). This is because they act as separate websites, unlike subdirectories, which live under and are not considered separate from the root domain.

This means that a new subdomain will have work to do to be recognized by Google as an authority, even if the root domain already ranks well in certain areas.

For tracking, Google Analytics (GA4) handles all subdomains of the parent domain automatically. All you’ll need to do is install GA4 with the same measurement ID and use the same GA property on all subdomains. You’ll also need to add each subdomain to Google Search Console and prove your ownership since they are treated as separate websites.

Finally, treat your subdomains as completely different websites from your main domain and avoid duplicating content.

Creating Your Domain and Subdomain

When you create a new website, you always start with a main domain name. As your brand expands, it might make sense to host specialized platforms separately from your main site, and that’s where subdomains come into play.

Whether it's a forum, community, blog, online store, or support portal subdomains offer a versatile way to expand your online presence. They're also commonly used for testing new features before rolling them out on your main website.

Do you want to register a new domain or are you looking for a better web host to migrate your website to before deploying new subdomains? Check out our list of the best web hosting providers that provide unparalleled support, are super easy to use, and have the best performance stats on the market.