WordPress Multisite allows you to run a network of websites under a single WordPress dashboard. You can manage everything, including the number of sites, features, themes and user roles, all in one place.
When creating a Multisite from scratch, the most difficult decision is whether to use subdomains or subdirectories for your network. And what about Subfolders? Let’s look at the differences between the three so you can decide which one works best for your website.
Understanding Subdomains, Subdirectories, and Subfolders
Before we go into detail, we should first familiarize ourselves with the terms subdomain, subdirectory, and subfolder.
What is a Subdomain?
Basically, everything before domainname.com is a subdomain. You can have as many subdomains as you need, as they function independently of each other. Website owners can use subdomains to separate parts of a website from the root domain.
Disney, for example, has set up several subdomains, each serving a different purpose:
- cars.disney.com
- videos.disney.com
- disneyparks.disney.com
- princess.disney.com
All subdomains are on the same level. You cannot create a sub-domain of a sub-domain. Although websites under subdomains are still closely connected to the root directory, they usually have a separate content management system, templates, analytics tools and more.
What is a Subdirectory?
A subdirectory is a folder or directory that is created from your main website. For example: www.yoursite.com/support.
It is possible to have various subdirectories, just as you would organize the folders on your computer. It can also have multiple levels, such as in yoursite.com/support/faq.
For example, https://www.callrail.com/ has a subdirectory under https://www.callrail.com/learn/.
What is a Subfolder?
A subfolder is essentially another term for a subdirectory in the context of websites. The terms “subfolder” and “subdirectory” are often used interchangeably in both web development and SEO, as they both refer to organizational structures that exist beneath the root directory of a website.
For example, if your website is example.com, then example.com/blog would be both a subdirectory and a subfolder. The key distinction is often in the context of discussion:
- When discussing website URLs and SEO, people tend to use “subdirectory”
- When discussing the actual file system organization, people tend to use “subfolder”
Technically speaking, in file systems, a folder is a graphical user interface concept that represents a directory, which is the actual file system object. However, in everyday web discussions, these distinctions are rarely relevant.
But what is the difference between Subdomains, Subdirectories, and Subfolders?
Each type of structure is suitable for certain use cases. This section shows the most common cases for their use as well as their advantages and disadvantages.
When should you use a Subdomain?
With subdomains, things are kept separate on the same domain. This is useful if you offer products in different niches, sell goods in different regions, or simply want to keep different areas of your company separate.
Advantages of a subdomain:
- Maintaining branding and niche authority
- Easy linking between your various subdomains
- Considered as internal links by Google. All subdomains are likely to be crawled when the main domain is visited by Googlebot.
- It is easier to manage a website with multiple subdomains than multiple separate domains
Disadvantages of subdomains:
- With some services or tools that charge per website, you may have to pay for each subdomain individually
- There are restrictions and problems with SSL support for subdomains. You may need to purchase a more expensive wildcard SSL certificate
- Subdomains can affect hosting performance and increase security risks
When should you use a Subdirectory/Subfolder?
Subdirectories (or subfolders), on the other hand, are URLs that host subsets of content in separate “folders”.
Popular use cases for subdirectories/subfolders are:
- Optimization of existing websites
- Increase SEO traffic on your main domain
- Organize content so that it is easy to understand and manage
- Streamline analytics by housing data on a standalone domain instead of potentially multiple subdomains that could complicate data analysis
The advantages of a subdirectory/subfolder:
- Easier to manage: you don’t need to set up separate hosting accounts, content management systems and SSLs, which is not only cheaper but also easier to manage
- One Google Analytics instance: The structure provides a simple implementation process for tracking your website analytics: you just need to add the tracking ID you use on your main site and update your page tree
- Keyword marketing: Arguably the biggest marketing benefit is keyword density. The words and phrases you use on the pages of your website send signals to the search engines that tell them what your website is about. A directory of similar or related terms gives your website more authority overall, attracts more visitors and improves keyword rankings
Disadvantages of subdirectories/subfolders:
- Page tampering: from an SEO perspective, there is a risk that a single page in a directory will damage the rest of the website through poor content or black hat SEO, regardless of the good content on other pages
- Bad choice for bilingual websites: If you have identical content in multiple languages on your website, you could be penalized for duplicate content across multiple pages. Google recommends using a unique URL or a subdomain
Subdirectory vs. Subfolder: Is There Actually a Difference?
While the terms are used interchangeably, there are some subtle contextual differences worth noting:
- Technical Context: – In strict technical terms, a directory is the actual file system structure – A folder is the visual representation of that directory in user interfaces
- Usage Context: – Web developers and system administrators tend to use “subdirectory” – Content creators, marketers, and end-users often prefer “subfolder”
- Platform Differences: – In WordPress, the admin interface refers to “folders” for media organization – In server configurations, the term “directory” is more commonly used
- SEO Considerations: – Both have identical SEO implications as they represent the same URL structure – Google and other search engines treat example.com/blog identically whether you call it a subdirectory or subfolder
What you should consider when deciding on the website structure
Before you make a final decision, you should answer the following questions clearly.
- Is your network a new installation or an existing one?
- Is your network for your personal websites or for websites that you have set up or purchased from others?
- Do you use domain redirection?
- Does your hosting allow you to set up subdomains?
- Where is your website located – on a local or remote server or in a subdirectory/subfolder?
Making the Right Choice for Your Website
Every website is created for a specific purpose. Based on the above and the advertising strategy used, everyone decides whether they want to use subdomains or subdirectories/subfolders on their main website.
When to choose subdomains:
- You have distinct services or products that target completely different audiences
- You need separate development environments (like dev.example.com)
- You’re creating country or language-specific versions of your site
- You want separate analytics tracking for different sections
When to choose subdirectories/subfolders:
- You want to maintain and consolidate your domain authority
- Your content is topically related
- You want simplified website management
- Your SEO strategy focuses on building authority for a single domain
Regardless of which website structure you choose, the most important thing is that the website contains quality content that is interesting to your users. Constant updates and improvements to the content will help to increase the target audience.
