Subdomain

A subdomain is a distinct, secondary section of a primary domain, separated by a prefix (e.g., blog.website.com or shop.website.com). In technical SEO, the decision to use a subdomain versus a subfolder (e.g., website.com/blog/) is critical. Google has historically treated subdomains as entirely separate entities, meaning the link equity and Domain Authority built on the main domain do not automatically flow to the subdomain. Unless there is a massive technical or security requirement to isolate a section of the site, utilizing subfolders is always the superior strategy for consolidating ranking power and dominating search results.

Subdomain Simplified

A subdomain is a separate section of your website that acts almost like its own independent site. While they are useful for organizing massive websites, they can hurt your SEO because Google treats them as completely separate from your main, authoritative website.