What Are Subdomains Through Web Hosting?

Subdomains are minisites that can be created for a top domain or web address. For instance, if you have a sports website with the URL www.sportsite.com, you can have subdomains for the various other sports associated with the site.

If a part of this website contained information on hockey, basketball, or football the associated subdomains for the site would be as follows:

http://hockey.sportsite.com
http://basketball.sportsite.com
http://football.sportsite.com

As you can see, each subdomain appears before the main site URL to show the sub-niche that is being targeted.

This is a great way to keep your site organized for your visitors rather than having your site appear as a mall that's very cluttered and unorganized.

This setup will make it very easy for individuals searching for basketball related topics to find what they want. The same goes for those in search of hockey related information and so on.

Subdomains are treated just like a regular url. It has to be found by the search engines just like the main url. Just because a subdomain has been created doesn't mean it will automatically show up in the search engine.

This applies even if the top level domain is already listed in the search engines. The subdomain must still go through the propagation process of being identified across the name servers.You will also need to get links pointing back to the sub so search engine spiders can visit and make note of its existence.

If you're thinking about using a subdomain for your website, let me point out some things you need to be aware of.

Some hosts don't allow the creation of subdomains. If you are currently with a host and discover you want to use subdomains to break your site up into different niches or topics, make sure the host provider is offering this in the plan you have.

If not, you may have to upgrade to the next available package or even pay an extra monthly fee just to have this feature. It may get as bad as having to change hosts due to the fact that your current one doesn't allow subdomains.

I'll say it again: If you are still searching and see subdomains as something you may want to use, make sure the package you get already includes subdomains as a feature. That way you don't have to worry about upgrading or changing hosts later on.

Another thing to be aware of is the reporting within your web stats. Some webstats provided by the web host may not have the functionality of providing statistics for subdomain activity.

If you are one who analyzes traffic to make improvements to your website, it's essential that you have a stats program that can provide data on subdomains.

You can always purchase external tracking software that includes all the statistics you need for running a successful website.

Some programs are very easy to install, but it's more convenient to have everything already included with the hosting package to avoid any potential compatibility issues.

This article was brought to you by GR8 Website Hosting where you can find great information and sources for getting a web host. If you are in search of a unix web hosting solution and need a good place to start, check out the options provided for a unix web hosting plan.

Can't find what you're looking for? Feel free to search our site or the web for the information you need.