Learning technical jargon or even just looking at anything tech can be daunting for the average joe. With its intricacies and years of study to master a realm of the internet where codes and numbers look like hieroglyphics, one may ask is there a way to simplify this complex information.
While the internet lets you enjoy its wonders and have access to all sorts of information on the web, there is still some information that can be hard to digest, especially technicalities website developers are the only ones that can utilize and develop to make the internet appear like what it is and how it is today—easy and user-friendly.
With building a website made easy in today’s era due to web hosting platforms offered by various companies, learning it all from scratch can help you maximize your use of the internet and its many perks when establishing a website all by yourself.
If you don’t basically have the time to cram and investigate the hidden and intricate wonders of the internet that can help you in building your business website, then you’ve come to the right place.
Starting on building a website is undemanding since it’s pretty obvious that in order to build yourself or your brand one, you just need to have an exclusive domain name and content like product images and descriptions to input on your already-made website. But a subdomain is something to look forward to in learning and utilizing once you had a hand in perfecting your business website—and if you want to improve your services and website better.
Using this guide, it will allow you to fully understand and answer your question about “what is a subdomain” and how it can affect your online business website in the long run if you intend on using a subdomain for your website.
What is a Subdomain
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A domain is a string on the internet that serves as an identification, basically for application naming or address purposes. Domain names are always unique and internet users can go to your website by just typing in your website’s domain name on their browsers.
Instead of memorizing IP addresses which are a unique string of characters that are mostly composed of numbers, and use the Internet Protocol for communication, we have the luxury of only memorizing short and easy-to-remember domain names thanks to the Domain Name System (DNS). This central part of the internet that serves as the internet’s phonebook syncs domain names with IP addresses enabling humans to use memorable names upon visiting a website.
On the other hand, a subdomain is an additional part and a convenient asset of your website. It is an extension of your domain name to help you in site organization and make your users have a positive outlook in terms of navigating your business website.
More so, subdomains are so extensive that they can be used to a point where they require their own hierarchy. But, remember that you cannot have a subdomain without a domain. From the prefix itself, subdomains are under domains so you do need a primary domain before acquiring one. You might spend a chunk of your time when making one but it sure is the best shot in organizing your web content.
Subdomain and Other Parts of Your Domain
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A subdomain is a subset of a larger domain. A subdomain example can be “store”, “my” or any kind of prefix when you start building a subdomain on your hosting dashboard.
Furthermore, a top-level domain (TLD) is the suffix tied to your website. In most cases, TLD is presented as the “.com” in your domain name. Other common examples of TLD are .net, .org, .edu, etc. With this, it is considered the highest level in the hierarchical DNS.
When you register a domain name, you would often choose a second-level domain (your unique domain name or business name) and a top-level domain (.com). You can add your subdomain as an additional level on your hosting dashboard. So, basically, a subdomain is the least important in this domain set.
On the other hand, we also have subdirectories on the mix. To fully know “what is a subdomain”, you have to understand a term that is often confused by it, and that is the subdirectories. The subdirectory is in no way near your question “what is a subdomain”. Subdirectories or subfolders are all part of a bigger website which may refer to folders located within a folder.
In a URL, a subdomain will likely appear before the root domain, while the subdirectory will come after the root domain name. To boot, the subdirectory strategy concentrates your keywords onto a single domain. On the other hand, a subdomain strategy spreads your keywords across distinct domains.
If you are wondering what is better for SEO in these two, according to Webmaster Trends Analyst John Mueller, it’s a matter of picking a setup that you can maintain and keep in the long run. It also boils down to the server you are using, since servers vary from different specializations.
Look for the best type that will suit and flow along with your setup, as well as which method you find is easier to track the website’s overall performance, plus whichever goes along with your long-term plans.
Advantages When You Use a Subdomain for Your Website
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· Staging Your Website
Your website should always be in tiptop shape in order to cater to your customer’s preferences and uplift their satisfaction. And with people’s ever-changing tastes, you constantly look for ways on how to improve your website. That is where subdomains kick in. With the use of subdomains, you can organize or even build a new website from scratch and be able to see a live version while doing so.
With this advantage, you can also track the traffic generated by your subdomain and see how your users would interact as you test new features or ideas for your site. That way, you can avoid launching a website that would not be beneficial to your business, as well as to your customers.
Aside from that, once you’re fully done with designing your website with the perk of seeing it perform in real-time, you can just transfer all designs onto your main domain. Don’t worry since you can encrypt a password on your subdomain to avoid people from viewing it while it’s under construction.
· Blogs
Blogs can cover a wide variety of topics—and a subdomain example when using it is for you to have an organized set of content in your website. Having a subdomain mainly for blogs gives your website a sophisticated and composed look since the content is not sparsely distributed on your business website.
This also gives you the opportunity to venture out to fields having a different core value pertaining to your business and still have the knack to discover new fields that would also be of great benefit for your website. A subdomain example for this is when you own a website intended for selling paint, you can use a subdomain to house blogs that can be useful for your business, like posting blogs about the trendiest set of colors to paint your customer’s living room walls with. Having that said, your website will not just earn profit by selling paint, but it can also generate traffic since you have a blog subdomain in your website.
· Internationalization
The internet is filled with a vast number of potential customers. With this, it is known that your website can reach multitudes of areas from different parts of the world. Having that said, by having a subdomain example in use for your website in terms of internationalization, you can create different language versions of your business website.
Having the capability to cater to a larger audience other than English native speakers or people who speak English as their second language, you would be able to supply information and still raise awareness of your brand in an attempt to make your website clear and cohesive.
· Mobile Sites
The mobile interface is different from computers. Opting and prioritizing in developing a subdomain mainly for mobile usage is a great advantage since people are not on their computers all the time.
With this, subdomain examples of websites that are intended for mobile sites make use of this advantage to reach and please mobile audiences.
· E-commerce Store
Running an e-commerce store requires a much more complex setup. In order to handle transactions in an easier and efficient phase, having a subdomain would do and help you with the job.
If you’re one of the many business owners that seek answers to their question about what is a subdomain, a subdomain will simplify processes since e-commerce websites have different needs and uses that web developers need to bring to life.
For obvious reasons, a transactional website must have a built-in shopping cart, credit card processing partner, and other considerations. Thus, providing a different entity like a subdomain example in a business website leads to easier transactions that would benefit not just the business owner, but also the customers in terms of better user experience.
How to Create a Subdomain in 3 Easy Steps
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Since you already know a lot about “what is a subdomain”, you might be wondering how you could make one. At Strikingly, So, to help you in acquiring one and make your business website more manageable and organized site, you can make a subdomain in these simple and easy steps.
- Head on to Strikingly site editor and find the “Settings” button on the left panel.
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- Click on “Domains” button and from there, you can setup a subdomain under “Custom Domain/Subdomain”
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- Once done, you can finish it up by clicking the “Update” button.
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With all the information we’ve discussed to answer your question “what is a subdomain”, you might be itching to put all your knowledge in action—and the best way to do that is to head on to Strikingly and try it for yourself.
With thousands of templates to choose from, you’ll surely experience how easy it is to make a website, best of all, it’ll only take you a couple of minutes, then your business website is on and ready to go live.
Plus, Strikingly’s affordable monthly plans make it a lot easier for business owners to upgrade to new features that would surely help you and your business to achieve skyrocketing sales in no time.
Head on to Strikingly now and try it all for free today!
