What Is A Sub Domain?

What's the difference between a domain and a sub-domain?

Getting your business online can be pretty tough, and here at Midphase we understand that the jargon can slow you down. We've explained a little bit about the foundations of your website below:

When you register your website, you create your own little space of online real estate, known affectionately by us techies as a 'domain'. Your domain appears on the internet as a URL; for us that's www.midphase.com. Think of your domain as an address on the online map; it directs traffic to your business. Your domain will be registered with your provider (that's what we do).

While your primary domain will be the most important and should be the most memorable, you can create other web addresses which branch off from your main one, called subdomains. Once your primary domain is registered, it can host as many subdomains as you need. A great advantage of subdomains is that with them you can host separate independent websites aside from your main domain, which can be useful for expanding business.

Subdomains look like this: blog.midphase.com. Once you've registered your domain, you can begin hosting subdomains yourself or with help from your provider. They are the property of the primary domain owner, which is important to remember; if you're using a subdomain from a domain that you didn't register yourself, you are not the owner.

Directories are folders which branch out from your main website, kind of like the folders on your computer. They can be accessed directly from the internet and from your main website, and may even host separate websites. They look like this: www.midphase.com/blog/.

If your website is being built by a web designer, or through your provider (we do this too!), you won't need to worry about managing your directories: that'll all be taken care of.