Subdomain is a part of the main domain where a new type of software can be installed. Websites can only run one particular type of software at a time.

That software might be WordPress, Bootstrap, Shopify, SquareSpace, Laravel, React.js, etc. Essentially in the core of the domain it has to have one of these type of software installed on it.

So what happens when you want to have an additional type of software to run other features on?

You need a subdomain! Subdomains allow you to have a whole new feature set in a slot on that domain which will be located at subdomain.maindomain.com.

These subdomains are used by a lot of big companies. Typically smaller companies don’t do this, however I have set up several for some businesses.

It is a whole other hosting slot so they do come with additional cost from a hosting standpoint. The value that they bring to the customer though, can be quite great.

Let’s say there is a bootstrap website as your main website and you want to offer a blog. You can install WordPress in a subdomain and then have the best of both worlds. Remember, that if you do do a solution like this, you will need to create a menu that can actually go back-and-forth between the two websites properly.

This is a little bit technically challenging to set up compared to just a regular website because navigating back-and-forth between the two platforms has to be setup properly. However, it can be set up to work and is a really cool way to add new feature sets to a website that wouldn’t be available on that particular platform that you chose for the website.

Have a question about setting up a subdomain for your business? Wondering what is going on with your website and why it has an extension before the domain?

I’d be glad to help you out with all your subdomain questions! Fill out the form located on my contact page and I will get back to you as soon as possible (: