What is a Subdomain? Simple Explanation

Last Updated November 14, 2025

Navigating a website, you might have noticed the URL in the search bar changes as you move from one page to another.

For instance, navigating from the homepage of ‘example.com’ to the blog section might change the URL to ‘blog.example.com’. Although the URL has changed slightly, you are still on the same website. This guide will explore the part of the URL that changes, known as the subdomain, and why it is important.

Understanding Subdomains

A subdomain is an additional part added to the beginning of a domain name, allowing websites to organize content for specific functions, such as a blog or an online store, separately from the rest of the website.

A domain name usually consists of two parts: the top-level domain (TLD), which is the extension (e.g., .com, .org), and the second-level domain (SLD), which is the unique part of the domain name, often a business or brand name. For example, in ‘example.com’, ‘com’ is the TLD, and ‘example’ is the SLD.

The subdomain appears before the SLD. The most common subdomain is ‘www’, which stands for World Wide Web and contains the homepage and most important pages of a website. However, subdomains can be used to separate different sections of a website, such as ‘blog.example.com’ for the blog section and ‘shop.example.com’ for the online store.

Why Use Subdomains?

Subdomains help organize different functions of a website, making it easier for users to find what they need. For example, a restaurant chain with multiple locations could use ‘www.myrestaurant.com’ for general content and ‘nashville.myrestaurant.com’ for the menu of the Nashville, Tennessee location.

Subdomain Examples

Separating Blog from Main Website: ‘www.example.com’ could focus on the main services of a company, while ‘blog.example.com’ contains articles that may not necessarily relate to the company’s products. This separation keeps everything organized and helps visitors find what they need.
Localized Content: ‘www.myrestaurant.com’ could provide general information about a restaurant chain, while ‘nashville.myrestaurant.com’ provides information specific to the Nashville, Tennessee location.
Different Language Versions: Wikipedia uses subdomains to denote language. For example, the ‘en’ subdomain indicates the article is in English, while ‘es’ indicates Spanish.

Creating a Subdomain

Creating a subdomain involves the following steps:

Name Your Subdomain: Choose a name that describes the part of your site you are assigning, such as ‘blog’, ‘store’, or ‘support’.
Log into Your cPanel: Access your hosting provider’s file manager, likely to be cPanel. Many domain registrars will have a custom interface that should be fairly easy to use to edit the DNS.
Navigate and Enter Your Subdomain: Go to ‘Subdomains’ or ‘Add Subdomains’ and enter your chosen subdomain, ensuring your primary domain name is selected.
Create a New DNS Record: Add a new domain name system (DNS) record, selecting what you want your subdomain to connect to (e.g., an IP address, server name, or wildcard domain).
Click Create: Wait for your subdomain to resolve, which typically takes 30 minutes to 24 hours.

Conclusion

Subdomains are a useful way to organize your website and make it easier to use. You can use them to separate your blog from your main site, offer content for different regions, or add an online store.

Subdomains help keep your website clear and simple to navigate. Choose subdomain names that are short and descriptive, and reach out to your hosting provider or web developer if you need help setting them up.

Does using a subdomain help or hurt SEO?

Using a subdomain does not automatically hurt SEO. Search engines can understand that blog.example.com is related to example.com, especially if the content is high quality and you link between them.

The key is to treat your subdomain like a real part of your site. Use clear titles, helpful content, and good internal links between the subdomain and your main domain. A tool like RightBlogger's SEO Reports for bloggers can help you spot SEO issues on both your main site and any subdomains.

Subdomains can even help SEO when they make your site easier to navigate. For example, putting a large blog on blog.example.com can keep your main site focused on products or services, while the blog attracts search traffic.

What matters most is that your subdomain has useful content, loads fast, and is easy to find from your main site. If you do that, search engines are likely to treat it positively.

What is the difference between a subdomain and a subdirectory?

A subdomain comes before the main domain, like blog.example.com. A subdirectory comes after the main domain, like example.com/blog.

Subdomains act like a separate section or "mini site". They are helpful if you want to split big parts of your website, such as a store, support center, or content in another language.

Subdirectories keep everything under one main domain structure. They are often used for smaller sections of a site that do not need their own setup, like a simple blog or a few extra pages.

Both options can work well for SEO if you organize content clearly and use smart internal linking strategies between related pages.

When should I use a subdomain instead of keeping everything on my main site?

Use a subdomain when a part of your site feels like its own area with a clear purpose. Good examples are blogs, online stores, course areas, or content for a specific city or language.

Subdomains are helpful if you may want a different design, login system, or platform for that section. For instance, a course site or support center often runs on different software than the main marketing site.

They also work well for local or language-based content, such as en.example.com and es.example.com, or nashville.myrestaurant.com for a city location. This makes it very clear to visitors what type of content they will see.

If the content is small and very closely tied to your main pages, you can often keep it on the main domain instead. Think about how users move through your site and choose the structure that feels easiest for them.

How can RightBlogger help me manage a blog on a subdomain?

RightBlogger helps by handling the content creation and SEO work, no matter if your blog is on example.com/blog or blog.example.com. You can use the RightBlogger AI Article Writer to draft full posts for your subdomain in minutes.

You can also set up autoblogging and scheduling to keep your subdomain blog active without writing every day. This is helpful if you use a subdomain just for content, like tutorials or news, and want it updated on a regular schedule.

RightBlogger's SEO tools and reports help you optimize titles, URLs, and on-page elements so each post on your subdomain has a better chance to rank in search. Paired with a clean structure and clear navigation, this can turn your subdomain into a steady traffic source.

If you are planning a large content hub on a subdomain, using RightBlogger to plan topics, draft posts, and improve SEO can save you many hours each week while keeping your site organized.