A subdomain is an additional part of your main domain name. Subdomains are created to organize and navigate different sections of your website. You can create multiple subdomains or child domains on your main domain.

For example:

store.yourwebsite.com

In this example, ‘store’ is the subdomain, ‘yourwebsite’ is the primary domain and ‘.com’ is the top level domain (TLD). You can use any text as your subdomain, but you want to make sure it’s easy to type and remember.

There are different reasons companies use subdomains. Let’s look at some top use cases of a subdomain.

Use Cases of Subdomain

The most common use-case of a subdomain is for creating a testing or staging version of a website. Often developers will test new plugins and updates on a subdomain staging site before publishing them live on the Internet.

Another common use of a subdomain is to create an online eCommerce store. Often companies want a separate subdomain to handle transactions because eCommerce sites typically require a more complex set up.

We have also seen companies use subdomains for their mobile websites (m.yoursite.com), location-specific sites (uk.yoursite.com), and creating sub-sections of the website.

You can install WordPress on your subdomain, and it will work as a separate installation from your main website.

You can use a subdomain to serve a specific group of users on your site like ‘guest.yourwebsite.com’, ‘user.yourwebsite.com’, and more. This is how website builder platforms like WordPress.com, blogger.com, and others offer custom websites to users.

Subdomains can be very useful in organizing your website content more efficiently. The right use of a subdomain does not affect your main website’s SEO. However, when in doubt, we recommend keeping everything on the same domain and avoid using a subdomain for public sites.

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