Subdomains vs. Subdirectories

Subdomains and subdirectories are both smaller subsets of a root domain that let you organize website content. But there are distinct differences. A subdomain acts as another website that can use a different design or interface from the main domain A subdirectory is a folder that sits inside a domain. Say you run an online pet food store and want to add a blog to give your audience tips on feeding their pets a wholesome diet. You can add your blog as a subdirectory by creating a new page in the same way you do for a product or service. The blog becomes a folder within your primary domain. This means it uses the same design and content management system (CMS) as the rest of your website. When a user clicks through to your blog, the URL will look like this: www.mypetstore.com/blog Now, let’s say your reason for creating a blog is to focus on another area of your business. For example, pet behaviour training. The content is different from what’s on your main site, so it makes sense to keep it separate. Creating a subdomain lets you create a blog on a different CMS (e.g., WordPress) with its interface. Your blog now sits outside of your main domain and the URL looks like this: blog.mypetstore.com A subdomain always sits before the root domain in the URL. A subdirectory always sits after. Another slight difference between the two is how they affect the nested structure of your site. With a subdirectory, you can add subfolders to the main folder that point to different categories. For example, www.mypetstore.com/blog/pets and then www.mypetstore.com/blog/pets/dogs. Because a subdomain acts like a root domain, you can add subdirectories to your subdomain to organize pages. For example, ads.google.com has “home” as a subdirectory. This helps to organize succeeding pages. In this case, “how it works” follows the subdirectory and creates a clear path that flows from the subdomain landing page to the subdirectory to content.