What is a Subdomain?
A subdomain is a part of a website that is placed under the root directory. It is represented by an addition at the front of the root domain name. For example, in app.ranktracker.com, app is a subdomain of the root domain ranktracker.com.
Having subdomains is helpful for organizing different sections of a website.
Subdomains vs. Subdirectories
Another way to create sections within a website’s structure is with subdirectories, also known as subfolders, which exist within folders under the root directory. Subdirectories are placed behind the root domain name.
Example of Subdomains:
uk.store.website.comde.store.website.comfr.store.website.com
Example of Subdirectories:
website.com/blog/marketingwebsite.com/blog/saleswebsite.com/blog/seo
While subdomains can go multiple levels deep, it's more common to see nested subfolders than multiple levels of subdomains.
Are Subdomains Important for SEO?
Using subdomains or subfolders doesn't make a significant difference to Google. This has been a debated topic in the SEO community, but Google has clarified that both are acceptable.
Google's Stance
John Mueller of Google has repeatedly stated that subdomains and subdirectories are treated equally by Google’s algorithms. Therefore, the choice between using a subdomain or subdirectory should be based on your specific needs and organizational preferences rather than SEO advantages.
Case Studies and Misconceptions
Some SEO case studies suggest that subfolders perform better than subdomains, but these studies often fail to isolate the impact of the subdomain to subfolder migration from other changes, such as improvements in internal linking or content additions.
Benefits of Subdomains
- Staging Purposes: Subdomains are excellent for staging environments. For example,
staging.website.comcan be used for testing changes before pushing them live. - Different Purposes: Subdomains can run different platforms independently. For instance, your main site might run on WordPress, while your knowledge center and store can operate on different platforms.
- Simpler URL Structure: For international sites, subdomains can offer a cleaner URL structure. For example,
uk.website.com/category/is often easier to manage thanwebsite.com/uk/category/.
Downsides of Subdomains
- Complex Setup: Subdomains can be more complicated to set up and are prone to errors. You need to ensure correct internal linking and tracking.
- Additional TLS/SSL Certificates: You might need additional TLS/SSL certificates for subdomains unless you use a Wildcard certificate.
- Crawling Time: It may take Google a bit longer to understand and crawl your site when subdomains are used, although this typically only spans a few days.
Best Practices for Subdomains
- Own Robots.txt File: Each subdomain should have its own
robots.txtfile because Google treats these files per hostname. - Internal Linking: Provide internal links between subdomains and the main domain to help Google recognize the connections and make navigation easier for users.
- Google Search Console: If your website is added to Google Search Console as a URL-prefix property, you'll need to add a new URL-prefix property for the subdomain or include it as a domain to track everything.
FAQs
Are Subdomains Better Than Subfolders for SEO?
No, they are equally good. Google has confirmed that both subdomains and subfolders are treated the same way.
Are Subdomains Different Websites?
If you incorporate a subdomain as part of your main website and connect them through internal linking, Google will likely treat it as part of the same site. Without such links, Google may treat them as separate sites.
Are Backlinks from the Main Domain Better Than Links from the Subdomain?
If all other factors are the same (such as link relevance and PageRank), there is no difference between a link from the main domain and a link from a subdomain.
For more detailed guidance and tools to manage your SEO efforts, visit Ranktracker.
