Choosing between subdomains and subfolders for structuring your website’s URL is a crucial decision that can impact SEO, user experience, and site organization.
Each approach has its unique benefits and considerations, and finding the right fit for your brand’s goals can make a significant difference in search rankings and user navigation. In this guide, we break down the pros and cons of subdomains and subfolders, explain when to use each, and explore how they affect SEO to help you make the best choice for your website’s growth.
Subdomain
Subdomain example:
blog.YourDomain.Extension
How a subdomain works:
Subdomains are originally intended to offer a solution other than having to register 100+ domains. So let’s say, instead of registering multiple domains you create subdomains to host your content. In a perfect world, subdomains would host completely different content than what is found on the main domain; however, this isn’t always the case.
The main fault in subdomains is that they historically do not give credit to the main domain. Google has been getting better about this over the years but since they haven’t always recognized them as adding to the site, in many instances subdomains will do worse than subfolders in Google and hurt ranking for the main domain as well.
Subfolder
Subfolder example:
YourDomain.Extension/blog
How a subfolder works:
Subfolders look very similar to your documents: a file-like system on servers. The base folder is the main domain and then there are subfolders. Subfolders follow the hierarchy, which are found under the main domain and are generally better for ranking in Google.
Subdomain vs Subfolder
The main difference between subdomain and subfolder is that subdomains are on the same level as the main domain while subfolders are under the main site. Subfolders are better for blogs because they do not compete for authority with the main site and its’ content adds to the main domain. There are some positive cases in which you would use a subdomain, for example at 101domain we offer domains and services in multiple languages and use subdomains to establish an international presence for those languages. They can also be used for unique operations (franchise location, owner information, contact, marketing specials etc.).
Every situation is unique but the rule of thumb is to use subfolders over subdomains.
Need some inspiration? Check out our most popular domain extensions now: