What Are Subdomains? How is it Different from Domain?

While you go to search for a domain name, you will come across plenty of terms, which are quite tricky to understand as you start it as a beginner. For most people, it starts with choosing a domain name.

However, the domain is not only the essential part that contributes to improving the site’s performance. At the same time, the subdomain also plays a vital role here.

While there are some confusions regarding the domain and subdomain, knowing what are subdomains can make things easier for you.

Here is what you need to know about it.

What are subdomains?

The subdomains come as an add-on for your primary domain name. In other words, subdomains come as a separate part for your websites, which operate under a similar primary domain name.

For creating a subdomain, you need to have a primary domain name. The subdomain is simply impossible to add without a domain.

For example, if you are using the site mywebsite.com and are using the subdomain like blog.mywebsite.com, then you will automatically go to get forwarded to the subdomain that corresponds with your physical location.

Subdomains give you the chance to create a completely new website while using the same name for the domain. At the same time, you can also create an unlimited number of subdomains for each of your domains.

So, what are subdomains? You can call it a unique URL that is connected in some way along with the primary domain.

You can assume the subdomain as a separate microsite which comes as part of your primary domain’s hierarchy. At the same time, it is also autonomous in terms of installation and management.

Why do you require a subdomain?

Though subdomain is not that crucial for a site, it does have several kinds of benefits that help your site to have better performance. Here are some of the benefits the subdomains offer to your site:

• You can set up the subdomain with a completely fresh installation that will not affect your main site.
• Setting up subdomain also helps in benefiting your Search Engine Optimization.
• It lets you create a partition for your various services. At the same time, you can maintain a much unique functionality for the sites from one another.

Most of the time, various online stores use a subdomain who require a different set of functionality and features.

At the same time, when SEO is the key concern for your site, it becomes effective to add a subdomain that helps in better ways to improve a site’s relevance.

What is the difference between domain and subdomain?

Knowing the difference between domains and subdomains can give you a better understanding of what are subdomains. The main difference between the domain and subdomain lies in its importance.

While the subdomains are effective yet optional, it is more critical for linking with other sites. On the other hand, the domain name is significant for any of the sites. Without a domain name, there is no way for visitors to have access to your website.

A domain can easily exist without a subdomain. However, a subdomain without a domain cannot exist. To use a subdomain, it is essential to use a domain. On the other hand, the domain can stay standalone without any need for the subdomain.

The domain names are usually used to provide an identification for the collection of devices that you are using under one Administration and Management. A domain name is easy to register to get a unique identity on the internet.

On the other hand, the subdomain comes with various divisions and necessary extensions for using the domain name. It is easy to organize and categorize as per the Organizational needs.

The subdomain that you are creating with www can be viewed as a completely new and separate domain name along with 2 different ownerships.

Where can you use a subdomain?

After knowing what are subdomains, the next thing you need to know is where you can use them.

Since the subdomain is very beneficial for your site presence, you need to know the important places where you can use subdomains to make it make more sense. Here are the areas where you can consider using the subdomains:

Hosting for a company blog:

Some of the website owners may want to separate their company blog from the rest of the site. This becomes highly useful when the main website does not come equipped with the proper features or the software for managing a blog effectively.

Using a subdomain for such cases makes more sense. Creating a subdomain for such a situation becomes very useful.

While creating an eCommerce store:

The eCommerce stores require more security guidelines to enhance better protection on the site. Sometimes this might require you to create a specific software to upgrade your SSL certificate.

On the other hand, you might not want to use it for the rest of your site. Hence you can host your eCommerce store using a subdomain in such cases.

For redesigning your site:

As you are going through a site to redesign, it becomes much helpful to see the live version for it. You can easily create a subdomain that lets you build a new website from scratch.

It enables you to insert links, videos, and images to see how your site will work in real-time. However, you can also send traffic to your subdomain to see how users are interacting with the new site.

While testing new products or features:

While you feel the need to expand your service or site, it becomes easier with a subdomain to test the features of the products or services. With the setting up of a brand-new website, you can use it hassle-freely for setting up a completely new domain.

Conclusion:
Knowing what are subdomains can help you in a variety of ways to build up a completely new site without struggling to make a new domain. It makes things easier for you to manage everything from a separate site while keeping your actual site untouched.