Domain vs. Subdomain: What’s the Difference?

• Improved organization: Subdomains can help you to better organize your website’s content, which can make it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site.
• Increased authority: Subdomains can help to increase the authority of your website as a whole. This is because each subdomain is treated as a separate website by search engines.
• Targeted keywords: Subdomains can be used to target specific keywords. For example, if you have a blog about SEO, you could create a subdomain called seo.yourdomain.com. This would help you to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for SEO-related keywords.

However, there are also some potential SEO drawbacks to using subdomains, such as:

• Link equity dilution: When you use subdomains, the link equity (i.e., the value of backlinks) for your website is diluted across all of your subdomains. This can make it more difficult for your main domain to rank highly in SERPs.
• Keyword cannibalization: If you have multiple subdomains that are targeting the same keywords, this can lead to keyword cannibalization. This is when multiple pages on your website are competing with each other for the same keyword rankings. Keyword cannibalization can make it more difficult for any of your pages to rank highly in SERPs.

Overall, whether or not to use subdomains is a decision that should be made on a case-by-case basis. If you are unsure whether or not to use subdomains, it is best to consult with an SEO expert.

Here are some additional SEO tips for using subdomains:

• Use relevant subdomain names: When creating subdomains, choose names that are relevant to the content that will be hosted on the subdomain. This will help search engines to understand the purpose of the subdomain and index it accordingly.
• Use the main domain name in the subdomain name: It is generally a good practice to include the main domain name in the subdomain name. This will help to establish a relationship between the subdomain and the main domain, which can help to improve the SEO of both the subdomain and the main domain.
• Create high-quality content on the subdomain: Just like any other website, subdomains need to be filled with high-quality content in order to rank well in SERPs. Make sure that the content on the subdomain is informative, engaging, and relevant to the target audience.
• Build links to the subdomain: Links are one of the most important ranking factors for search engines. Make sure to build links to the subdomain from other high-quality websites. This will help to improve the authority of the subdomain and help it to rank higher in SERPs.

Conclusion

Subdomains can be a useful way to organize your website’s content and improve your SEO. However, it is important to use subdomains carefully and to avoid the potential SEO drawbacks associated with using subdomains. If you are unsure whether or not to use subdomains, it is best to consult with an SEO expert.

This article was written by Vatlam Radhika and was originally published on techfin2k.com on 03.11.2023