Despite Google’s official claim that it treats subdomains and subdirectories equally in indexing, website owners sometimes report substantial traffic gains after switching from the former to the latter.
The reality? It’s far more nuanced than these site owners suggest.
In order to make smart decisions about when to use subdomain or subdirectory, you need to evaluate your goals, technical capacity, and projected website growth.
That’s what this guide covers. You’ll learn the key differences between a subdomain and a subdirectory, when to use each, and how to choose the right one for your specific needs.
What is a subdomain?
A subdomain is a label that appears before your main domain name (e.g., blog.example.com, shop.example.com, support.example.com).
Contrary to what people think, a subdomain doesn’t always function as a separate website hosted elsewhere. A subdomain can point to the:
- Same content (e.g., www. as a subdomain).
- Different content on the same hosting (e.g., fr.support.wordpress.com for localized content, a type of web content adapted to a specific language or region).
- Different hosting and content (e.g., hosting blog.example.com on a server completely separate from example.com).
Businesses with diverse product offerings often use subdomains to organize content hierarchy and ensure easy navigation.
Take Google, for instance. It deploys its business apps and solutions through separate subdomains, such as mail.google.com, drive.google.com, and docs.google.com, improving the user experience.
When should you use a subdomain?
Though requiring more technical setup (which we’ll walk you through later), subdomains excel at organizing distinctly different sections of your content.
Use them when you want to:
Host client portals
Hosting dedicated portals on subdomains helps you manage each client’s project deliverables, digital assets, and legal documents in a centralized space. Depending on your web hosting provider, it can also improve security by limiting access to sensitive data.
Set up a staging environment
A staging environment is an isolated testing ground where you test updates, redesigns, and new features before deploying them to a live website. Technically, they can be created on a subdirectory instead (and we’ll cover what those are in a bit), but using a subdomain is widely considered best practice.
A staging environment hosted on a subdomain provides an isolated space where you can implement and refine changes without risking your main website. Just be sure to secure it with a password to prevent unauthorized access.
Tip: Want to set up a staging environment for your WordPress website? Start here.
Build authority in a new niche
Search engines treat subdomains as independent entities — the backlinks and authority from your main domain won’t transfer over. This creates a fresh foundation to establish dominance in your new niche or market segment.
Imagine you’re an entrepreneur with three revenue streams: a baking membership community, a copywriting course, and a series of business ebooks.
These offerings target different customer segments with unique search behaviors. Instead of lumping your three business lines together on one domain — which risks confusing visitors and diluting your site’s authority — create subdomains with each strategically positioned to build targeted authority.
Creating distinct site subsections
There may be other instances where you need to add a section to your site that has its own distinct branding and functionality.
One example is WordPress Playground, a platform for users to build and experiment with WordPress on any device, all within a web browser. Note the subdomain in the URL address bar.
How to connect a subdomain
For WordPress sites, creating a subdomain requires more technical steps than a subdirectory.
Your process primarily involves your DNS management system (like Cloudflare) rather than your web host. To begin, locate its support documentation and complete the step-by-step instructions for a smooth setup.
Next, follow these steps to connect your subdomain with your WordPress.com site.
First, log in to your account and go to the WordPress dashboard of the site you want to use with your subdomain.
If you’re using WP Admin, navigate to Hosting → Domains (or Upgrades → Domains if you’re using Default View). On the top right, click the down arrow of the “Add a domain” button and select “Use a Domain I own.”
Enter your desired subdomain (e.g., subdomain.example.com) and click the “Continue” button.
In the “Connect your domain” section, click the “Select” button.
Congratulations! You’ve created your subdomain.
Since your website uses WordPress.com name servers, the DNS records for your subdomain should automatically configure. Test your new subdomain URL in a web browser to see if it’s working.
What is a subdirectory?
A subdirectory is a subfolder within your main website. It appears as a page after the root domain (e.g., example.com/blog, example.com/shop, example.com/about) and is preferred by SEO professionals running smaller websites.
When should you use a subdirectory?
Subdomains are overkill for smaller websites, as they unnecessarily fragment your SEO efforts. If you’re managing a smaller web presence, subdirectories offer a more practical solution.
Use them when you want to:
Simplify SEO tracking
Analyzing SEO data across multiple subdomains creates unnecessary complexity.
Unlike subdirectories, subdomains require technical overhead like configuring cross-domain tracking and modifying session cookies. If you prefer to streamline your analytics tracking under one roof, opt for subdirectories.
Organize related content for better SEO
Since search engines treat subdomains as separate sites, backlinks pointing to your main website won’t transfer SEO value to them.
Subdirectories, on the other hand, consolidate your SEO equity within a single domain and amplify your overall search visibility. This makes them the preferred choice for most SEO specialists.
To illustrate how subdirectories work in practice, consider this example. If you’re a freelance writer for B2B marketing and sales companies, you could organize your website with subdirectories targeting these keywords:
- Homepage: Freelance [SEO/marketing/SaaS] content writer.
- Blog posts: How to increase leads, conversion content, and research competitor keywords.
- Services: Content writing services in [country], [ebook/white paper/B2B] content writing services.
By interconnecting these pages under your main domain, you create a content cluster that shares SEO equity. The “backlink juice” from other sites that link to your pages flows throughout your entire website and fuels it as a whole.
Eventually, this leads to higher domain authority, better search rankings, and increased organic traffic.
Maintain brand consistency
Consistent branding boosts revenue by up to 20% — and subdirectories play a small part in achieving it. They can provide better continuity in user experience and a cohesive brand presence, boosting recognition and trust.
How to create a subdirectory
Creating a subdirectory is easier than setting up a subdomain. You can whip one up in seconds with any website builder.
If you’re hosting on WordPress.com, here’s how it works:
- Log in to your account.
- Go to the dashboard, click Pages → Add Page.
- Build and format the rest of your page as desired.
- Customize the URL subdirectory in the right sidebar menu.
- Click Publish.
Tip: You can add more subdirectories under the page you created. This step is particularly useful if you want to organize different topics on your blog (e.g., a food blog might add the following child pages: breakfast, lunch, and dinner under a Recipes parent page).
Go back to the dashboard:
- Click Pages → Add Page.
- Click None next to Parent.
- Choose the parent page previously created.
- Build and format the rest of the page accordingly.
- Click Publish.
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Differences between subdomains and subdirectories
The debate between subdomains and subdirectories never ends. Here’s a snapshot of their differences to help you choose the right option for your website.
First, let’s start with the fundamental structural differences.
URL structure
A subdomain appears before the primary domain and is separated by a period. It looks like shop.example.com or portal.example.com.
Whereas a subdirectory appears after the main domain and is separated by a slash. It looks like example.com/shop or example.com/portal.
Maintenance
Subdomains demand more technical maintenance and resources.
Often, there are more DNS records, SSL certificates, and duplicate content to manage. Depending on your business and site setup, you may also need different content management systems (CMSs) to run each subdomain, increasing technical complexity and resources.
Subdirectories, conversely, are easier to manage. With all content in a single website architecture, you reduce technical overhead and streamline maintenance.
For example, if you run an ecommerce store with a blog, you can manage both sections through a single WordPress.com dashboard. When you update your plugins or theme, these changes apply to the entire site automatically. There’s no need to implement the same updates across multiple platforms.
Indexing and ranking
Subdirectories usually see higher rankings and traffic.
Despite Google’s official stance that both receive equal treatment, many SEO professionals report substantial traffic gains after migrating from subdomains to subdirectories.
The HotPads blog is one example — it saw a 98% traffic increase after the shift.
Take these results with a grain of salt, as the reality is a lot more complicated.
During HotPads’ migration to subdirectories, it simultaneously upgraded from Typepad to WordPress. This suggests multiple factors influence SEO performance beyond domain structure.
In HotPads’ case, it could also be the CMS, hosting environment, and internal links.
Which is better: a subdomain or a subdirectory?
For most bloggers, creatives, and small business owners, subdirectories will work just fine.
That’s because subdomains create more work.
Managing additional DNS records and SSL certificates creates potential technical hurdles for non-tech-savvy users, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Without dedicated technical support, subdomains can become overwhelming quickly.
Moreover, subdomains excel specifically for enterprise-scale content or specialized sections that operate independently from the primary website. Smaller sites usually don’t reach the content volume threshold where subdomains become necessary.
Unless you’re managing thousands of pages needing intuitive navigation — and aiming to improve the user experience that search engines prioritize in rankings — you can get by with subdirectories.
Ultimately, it depends on three factors: your business, bandwidth, and current and projected website scale. If you’re still stuck, here’s a simple decision flowchart to help you decide which is right for you.
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Final thoughts: subdomain vs subdirectory
Use subdomains to separate content experiences from your primary site. Client portals, staging environments, and specialized sections targeting new market segments benefit from this approach, giving visitors a distinctive experience.
Choose subdirectories if you prefer to leverage your SEO benefits within your main site. Your hard-won “backlink juice” will beef it up as a whole.
Whether you want to connect multiple subdomains or create new pages, WordPress.com can do it all with a few clicks. We handle everything from hosting and security to performance and maintenance.
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