Domains, vs. sub-domains

[StephenT]

If I wanted to branch out in a different direction is it better to have a new whole domain, or sub-domain.

I was looking at Lynn's ad for hostgator, which is my host, and it says unlimited domains, but unless that means you can have as many sites as you are willing to pay for, this really means that you can have unlimited sub-domains. Tell me how a sub-domain works and why I would or would not want it please!

[bar2k]

Steve,


What are you trying to accomplish with sub-domains or separate domains? I will be able to better answer your question if I get a sense of what you are trying to achieve.

[StephenT]

At this point, nothing. What I am thinking is that if I wanted to start an affiliate program selling say, ladies underwear, (no, I am not really considering this) a completely different direction from my existing site, can I use a sub-domain or should I go from scratch and get a whole new site with new domain. I just don't understand how the whole sub-domain thing works.

[wade_watson]

What "unlimited domains" means is that you can host multiple different domain names as different sites, such as www.stephentisagreatguy.com and so forth. You do have to register any new domain, which means paying the annual fee for it. With subdomains, you normally do not have to pay a fee, but functionally they work the same way as a separate domains.

There are no hard and fast rules for using subdomains, but as a matter of practice, they are generally used for some function associated with, but not a part of the main site. If your site is about exercise and you want to sell women's exercise underwear on the side, you might do it in a subdomain. However, if you're starting a completely unrelated site, I would suggest getting a new domain for it. If possible, try to get one with a keyword relating to the site's purpose, too. Certainly if the site is going to produce income, $10/year will be an insignificant expense compared to the value of having a separate .com domain associated with it.

But, as I said, you can do whatever you want with a subdomain. I have started subdomains simply to test WordPress installs and plugins before using them elsewhere. It's up to you.

Wade Watson

[StephenT]

Thanks Wade! I appreciate that!

[David Jackson]

If I wanted to branch out in a different direction is it better to have a new whole domain, or sub-domain. Tell me how a sub-domain works and why I would or would not want it please!

Steve, you wanted to know how subdomains work, so here goes. Subdomains are simply lower-level domains hosted on a registered root domain. For example, if you own the root domain name ladiesunderwear.com, you can host a subdomain, "faq," on your root domain.

Web users can access the subdomain, by typing the subdomain URL, faq.ladiesunderwear.com into a browser just as they would your registered root domain name, ladiesunderwear.com. It is not necessary for you to register the subdomain, since it is based on your registered root domain name.

All that being said, you mentioned that you wanted to branch out in a different direction. If that new direction is not even remotely relevant to your current domain, I would recommend that you register a brand new domain name. Otherwise, it might confuse visitors to your site.

David Jackson

[StephenT]

Thanks David. That helps. I am beginning to wish I had used some other example! :o

[David Jackson]

Thanks David. That helps. I am beginning to wish I had used some other example! :o

Anytime, my friend. Yeah, we're having a little bit of fun with that example. :)

David Jackson

[jkgourmet]

Also I think you get one free domain registration with you hostgator account, saving that $10. (that leads to another whole discussion on whether or not you should use two different companies for registration and hosting. For one domain, just to get started, I'm not sure it matters so much and you can always move the reg later.)

as to why hostgator would allow you to have unlimited domains for $10 per month - well, they explained it to me this way: you rent space on their server. Other people rent space on the same server - that's why they call it "shared hosting.". The host doesn't care how many domains you have. They care about how much traffic you have, how much space you are using on their servers. Like a door to a building. If you've got too many people pushing in and out of the door, it causes a problem on their servers. Also, It doesn't matter to them what you've got going on INSIDE the building -- Until there is so much activity that exceeds the amount you are allowed on the shared server.

The amount of activity you are allowed is called bandwith and is determined by which plan you buy from the host. When you are taking up too much bandwith on their servers for the plan you bought, they make you move up to renting your own server (dedicated hosting).

Big sites own their own servers, or multiple servers.

I'm sure others can expand on this much better and more technically than I have.

[Lynn Terry]

I have dozens of domains pointed to each of my HostGator accounts. They are called add-on domains, which is different than sub-domains. An add-on domain is simply a new domain name you add on to your existing HostGator account.

A subdomain is a directory you add on to an existing domain except instead of domain.com/directory it is pulled up as directory.domain.com

[StephenT]

Thanks Lynn! So that means I could get another domain and add it to my hostgator account and start a whole new site! Interesting! How does the new site get set up? Just like any other?

[Lynn Terry]

Right.

First you register the domain with your registrar. Set the nameservers to point to your HostGator account. (you'll find those in your original HG welcome email).

Then you go into your HostGator cpanel and go to Add-on Domains. Set up the new domain following those directions.

It will actually create a directory for your new domain, which is where you put the files for that website.