Detach Your Blog From Your Main Website
It can sometimes be a good idea to break your blog off from your main site onto a subdomain. Maybe your blog following has grown and is slowing down your main site, or maybe because you want to switch up your blog design. You can also change your blog to a different CMS.
But overall, you might want to move your blog because it serves a different purpose than your main domain. Depending on what your main domain does, it might make sense to move your blog to a subdomain so they can exist separately, while still being tied together under your main domain.
How To Use A Subdomain
While a subdomain is part of the main website, its considered a separate entity by search engines. People recognized this and decided to use subdomains to organize their website, without allowing certain parts of the site to be indexed by Google.
Companies use subdomains for a variety of reasons. Mainly, its to give a webpage a separate identity in search engine results while also keeping it a part of the main website.
Install The Wp Mail Smtp Plugin
To connect your WordPress emails to your authenticated subdomain at SparkPost, youre going to need WP Mail SMTP. This is the best SMTP plugin for WordPress and it helps improve your deliverability by using SMTP and it connects with well-reputed third-party mailers like SparkPost.
In this step, first Install WP Mail SMTP on your website and activate the plugin. After activation, you should be redirected to WP Mail SMTP setup wizard. But you can also launch the setup wizard manually by navigating to WP Mail SMTP » Settings.
Scroll down to the Mail section and click on Launch Setup Wizard.
This will launch the setup wizard which lets you easily connect WP Mail SMTP with your desired mailer service like SparkPost.
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What Is A Subdomain And How Does It Work
In spite of its low entry barrier, the internet is a mighty complex territory filled with technical jargon that at times may sound eerily similar to Klingon. Building a strong online presence starts in a fairly straightforward manner – simply create a website and purchase a domain name. However, things get more complicated once you want to grow your site, improve your performance and come across new terms such as subdomain.
If you know what is a domain, you may already have a general idea of what a subdomain is, based on the obviousness of its name. However, there are several technical layers youll need to take into account in order to decide whether you want to use one on your site. This introductory guide will allow you to understand not only what is a subdomain, but also when it makes sense to create one and how it impacts your sites performance.
Create A Separate Site For Mobile
A subdomain can also be utilized to provide a more mobile-friendly experience for your site visitors. Search engines like Google can recognize the type of device a searcher is using, and will serve the version of your website that gives them the best user experience. You can create separate versions of your website that cater to mobile, and even more specifically, to each screen size.
This adaptive approach gives users a unique experience, catered specifically to the type of device theyre currently using. Each of these different layouts have their own specific subdomain. Providing a mobile-friendly subdomain is a must in todays world, where more users are conducting searches on smartphones than on other devices.
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Difference Between Domains And Subdomains
To better understand what a subdomain is, lets consider the structure of a domain name.
A typical web address or URL appears in your browser as https://www.example.com/ such that example.com is the registered domain name for the website.
- A domain name typically has two parts: TLD and SLD .
- The top-level domain or TLD is the domain extension, which could be .com, .ng, .xyz, or any other domain extension.
- As you may rightly guess, the second-level domain is the name that appears before domain extension or TLD.
- However, we can also have other domains like shop.example.com or blog.example.com these are called subdomains.
While domains can stand alone, subdomains cannot exist without the presence of the main domain.
Now lets talk about how subdomains work.
Its An Ongoing Debate In The Seo World Between Subdomains And Subdirectories Which Is Better
Here, youll find:
- The difference between subdomains and subdirectories
- How each factors into your overall SEO
- The difference in their URLs
- Expert advice for deciding where to host your blog
When youre creating a marketing plan, some aspects are clear.
You should leverage organic and paid avenues, you should probably be on social media, and you should keep tabs on how your business presents online, from meta descriptions to customer reviews.
But then there are more hotly debated topics. How long should proper SEO take? Is it worth it to try to go viral on social media? Should you host your blog on a subdomain or a subdirectory?
Your time is valuable, so lets tackle that last question with help from one of HawkSEMs lead strategists, Yara Askar.
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What Is An Email Subdomain And Why Should You Use One
Do you want to know what is an email subdomain and why you should be using one?
Understanding email subdomains is important if you want to ensure a high email deliverability rate.
In this post, well explain what an email subdomain is, why you need one, and show you how to set one up for yourself.
Theres a lot of information in this post. You can use the quick links below to jump to your desired section instantly:
Subdomains Vs Subdirectories For Seo
There has been an ongoing debate about whether subdomains or subdirectories are better for sites SEO.
This is due to the fact that search engines like Google might treat subdomains as separate entities from the rest of the site. Thus, subdomains will rank differently than the main websites.
Meanwhile, subdirectories help with crawling as Google recognizes that these sections are part of the bigger website on the main domain.
It is recommended that you use the setup that works best for the site and think about the long-term plan when making a choice.
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Why You May Need A Subdomain
There are various reasons you might need a subdomain. Some of the cases are:
- For a testing or staging environment of a website. You can choose to install WordPress on your subdomain. It will work as a separate installation from your primary website. Developers often test their new plugins or updates on a subdomain staging website before they proceed with publishing changes on the live site
- For users on your website . These are subdomains that use your hosting space. This is the way sites like WordPress.com, Blogger.com, and others provide custom websites to their users
- For an e-commerce store. Companies often separate their store from their main domain name in order to maintain transactions. Thats because e-commerce sites usually need more complex configurations
- For a mobile version of a website – m.example.com
- For location-specific websites – en-us.example.com , de.example.com
- For sub-sections of a site – forum.example.com.
Subdomains can be incredibly useful if you want to organize the content of your website more effectively. The right use of a subdomain would not affect your site SEO. However, what we recommend is to keep everything on the same domain name without using subdomains for public websites.
Test Out A New Website
It doesnt take long for website designs to look dated and a new coat of paint might be the perfect way to freshen up your look. Heres where a subdomain can help you test a new layout, or a rejiggle of content structure, and imagine how something will look, without having to publish anything on your main site.
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Subdomains Under Many Different Domains
In other landing page subdomain examples, the landing pages might need to work differently. In a different scenario, a brand might rely on a network of retailers to sell its product.
If a company produces a product but doesnt sell directly to consumers, it can publish landing pages under the domains of its retail partners. As the parent brand, they still have control over the landing page, but they rely on the traffic of their partners to make sales.
Landing page subdomain examples like this will look different.
If you started the company Quality Linens, you could approach vendors in the home decor industry to stock your product. If you know the network well enough, you wouldnt need to set up your own stores. You would rely on your network of vendors for sales. You could still set up your own landing page subdomains and publish them on your retailers root domains.
Your URLs would look something like this:
https://promos.houseandhome.co.uk/qualitylinens
http://promos.awardwinning.co.uk/qualitylinens/
What Is A Subdomain And How Does It Work How To Create A Subdomain
As a website owner, you might want to create a new website without purchasing a new domain name.Or you might be looking to test out new themes, plugins, and designs before deploying them on your new website. It could also be that you want to create different versions of your website without creating new pages.
If any of this describes your current position, then a subdomain might be what you need.
This article talks about what a subdomain is, how it works, and creating one for your website. If you are ready, lets dive right in.
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Hosting A Company Blog
Some website owners may want to isolate their company blog from the rest of their site. Usually, this is done when the main website isnt equipped with the right features or software to effectively manage a blog.
For example, maybe your main website is built around trying to get people to download an app. But, you want to create a company blog for content marketing purposes. The only issue is you dont want to redesign your website with a new framework.
In this case, using a subdomain makes sense. Just create the subdomain of blog.myappsite.com, and you can install a CMS like WordPress on your new subdomain. Then, your only goal should be to try and mirror your existing design as close as possible.
This is a common approach that a lot of startups take. The blog isnt the main focus of their company, so they operate it like a separate entity.
For another example, we can check out the Grammarly app. The main site is located on the primary domain, but the web app uses a subdomain. Heres what the homepage looks like when you visit the site:
And heres the backend when youre logged into the grammar editor. Notice the change in domain up at the top:
When Testing Out Your New Website
One of the most common uses of subdomains is to use them as a testing ground for when youre updating or creating a new version of your website. You can actually install a program like WordPress on your subdomain and use it as a completely separate entity from your main website. You can also test your updates and plugins on your subdomain to see how they perform before you publish them to your live site.
When using subdomains as a testing ground, the subdomain will typically be something that web users wont think to type in, since you dont want them to see the content yet. They act as hidden pages where you can safely test new features before it is ready to go live.
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What Is A Subdomain Used For
Subdomains make it simple for you to organize the various functions of your website, while also making it easier for users to find these different functions.
Think about it this way: If youre hosting a party, you need to provide guests with your address. The TLD would be the city you live in while the SLD would be your number and street name. If you live in an apartment building, you need to get even more specific so your guests know which apartment to ring. Your apartment number would be akin to a subdomain a specific section of the greater building that’s dedicated to your living space.
If you plan to add more functions to your website, such as a store, a forum, or a blog, you might add a subdomain to your domain to separate these functions off from your main website.
You can also use subdomains to create localized content. For example, if you run a restaurant chain with multiple locations, customers can visit www.myrestaurant.com for all-encompassing content. Or, customers looking for the menu at your Nashville, Tennessee location can access this information via nashville.myrestaurant.com.
Which Is Better For Seo
It used to be thought that subdomains and subdirectories were equals when it came to their impact on SEO. In fact, in 2012 Google spokesperson, Matt Cutts, said there were roughly equivalent, adding that Google saw them as one domain. However, this thinking appears to be shifting.
Search engines now keep different metrics for domains than they do for subdomains. For that reason, it is better for the webmaster to place their link-worthy content in subdirectories rather than in subdomains. Therefore, isellrefrigerators.com/blog would be a better option than blog.isellrefrigerators.com.
An exception for this is when you require language-specific websites, in which cases using subdomains is still the better option. Subdomains were previously preferred by webmasters because they were able to stuff subdomains with the keywords that they wanted to target in rankings. The goal was to load the search engine results pages with the given keyword using their main domain and subdomain pages. However, Google caught onto this loophole and began to crack down on the practice.
Now, when they make the connection, Google consolidates the search results and displays just one domain to the given search result. Stuffing subdomains with keywords to attempt this strategy can now lead to penalization by Google.
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Add Dns Records To Your Web Host
Now, were going to add DNS records for our new subdomain to our web hosting account. This will help you get verified so that ISPs and mailers can treat you as an authentic email sender.
Copy the TXT and CNAME records from SparkPost and paste these values into the DNS records of your web hosting account.
If you dont know how to add DNS records to your web host, you can see the documentation or reach customer support of your web host for assistance.
When youve added the DNS records, click on The TXT and CNAME records have been added to the DNS provider box and then press the Verify Domain button.
Now, click scroll to the top and click on Configuration in the navigation bar. You should now see your subdomain listed under Sending Domains.
Note that it might take up to 48 hours for SparkPost to review your configuration and verify your domain. Meanwhile, you can jump to the next steps and connect SparkPost with WP Mail SMTP.