Subdomain Search (2024)

FAQs

Do subdomains hurt SEO? ›

A subdomain can be great for SEO, but it will require a dedicated person or team that can manage it. Unlike subdirectories, a subdomain's domain authority won't automatically trickle down from the primary domain name.

It means that subdomains are search engine indexable!

Only humans care if the content is on the hosting of the root domain. Search engine robots could not care less. If content is on a subdomain, it is spidered as part of the overall website. Just ask Google!

It's a cyber threat executed when an attacker gains control of a legitimate subdomain that's no longer in use, then cleverly exploits the forgotten or misconfigured dangling DNS to host their own content on the previously used zone.

You can explicitly block the indexation of specific URLs across your website by utilizing noindex tags. You can make sure a subdomain isn't included in Google's index by using either noindex <meta> tags or noindex HTTP response headers.

Characteristics and Parameters of a Subdomain

A domain can have up to 500 subdomains. You can create multiple levels of subdomains such as store.product.yoursite.com, test.forum.yoursite.com, etc. Each subdomain can be up to 255 characters long, but for multi level subdomains, each level can only be 63 characters long.

Subdomains can rank well on Google, but it depends on various factors such as the quality and relevance of the content, the authority and popularity of the domain, and the competition in the specific search terms you are targeting.

Your subdomain reputation(s) can impact base domain reputation, but the impact between subdomains will be small. Subdomains are not a way to avoid a bad domain reputation. Instead, they will help differentiate your traffic while maintaining a clear relationship with your main domain.

A sitemap is a file of your site's pages, links and other information that helps Google read and index your site. Each subdomain has its own dedicated sitemap that needs to be submitted to Google individually. Tip: You can check your subdomain's sitemap in the address bar by adding /sitemap.

Websites that use multiple subdomains risk exposing themselves to cyberattacks. Subdomain takeovers can lead to data breaches and reputational damage.

Is subdomain takeover illegal? ›

Subdomain takeover can have severe legal implications, as attackers may engage in illegal activities or host malicious content on compromised subdomains.

Google Considers Subdomains as Separate Standalone Sites

“You'll need to verify subdomains separately in Search Console, make any changes to settings and track overall performance per subdomain. We do have to learn how to crawl them separately but for the most part that's just a formality for the first few days.”

Go to the DNS app. Locate the CNAME record for your subdomain, and click the 'Delete' button next to it. Confirm that you want to delete the record.

Use "noindex" meta tags

If content has already been indexed by search engines, you can add a "noindex" meta tag to instruct search engines to stop indexing it in the future.

Subdomains aren't directly bad for SEO, but they're not always the most strategic choice. Google states that subdomains and subdirectories are both fine, but subdomains are crawled and tracked separately.

Yes, Google indexes and ranks subdomains separately from the main site. However, the SEO impact of subdomains may not be as significant as that of subdirectories, as they are considered separate entities.

So, using sub-categories will help your visitors/users to navigate easily through your products, improve your site architecture, target specific keywords, and improve your page speeds by showing filtered products only. Hope that helps.