Does your small business have a website of its own? If you’re in the process of building one, or if you’re considering starting over from scratch, then it’s time for a little refresher on domain types. There are three primary types of domains – parked domains, addon domains, and subdomains.
On the surface, these three types of domains seem very similar. But there are some notable differences between them.
Addon Domain vs. Parked Domain vs. Subdomain: Are They Really All That Different?
A domain is a website’s home on the internet. It’s the address to your site, and it’s how search engines and visitors access your site. Every domain has a unique identifier called a domain name.
A domain name is typically composed of two parts – a top-level domain (TLD) and a second-level domain (SLD). The TLD represents the category of the domain, such as .com or .org. The SLD represents the site itself. For example, in the domain name www.example.com, “example” is the SLD, while the “.com” is TLD.
There are three different types of domains – addon domain, parked domain, and subdomain. They each serve a unique purpose and have different characteristics.
Addon Domains
When building your website, you’re going to have to choose a web hosting site. This is where your site will live. You’ll be able to choose a domain name and set up your site within that domain. With most mainstream web hosting services, you’re able to create what is called an addon domain.
These domains can be related to your primary website, or they can be completely separate. However, most businesses use these addon domains for staging, which simply means using them for testing before going live with your official site.
Another way that addon domains are used is to create a new website related to your primary site. For instance, if your primary website is intended to sell your products or services, you may choose to create an addon domain for your blog. This way, you can avoid cluttering your primary site with too much content and possibly overwhelming your customers.
Parked Domain
A parked domain is often considered an alias of your primary domain. When you purchase your primary domain, you don’t want others to be able to claim similar domain names that only differ in TLD. That’s why many businesses will go ahead and purchase as many parked domains as possible before creating their primary domain.
For example, if your primary domain is example.com, then you may consider purchasing parked domains such as:
- example.net
- example.org
- example.biz
If you have a website that’s already live, then you may want to consider parking domains to prevent others from using them. One common misconception of parked domains is that they are each an individual website. In reality, each of these parked domains will direct internet users back to your primary domain, ensuring that nobody else can claim your brand as their own – and increasing your traffic.
Subdomain
A subdomain is a website that is hosted on the same domain as another website. The subdomain is part of the original site, but it is accessed through a separate URL. For example, if your company has a website at www.example.com, you could create a subdomain at support.example.com. In this scenario, example.com is the primary domain, while support.example.com is the subdomain.
Can Parked Domains or Addon Domains Affect Your SEO?
There are a lot of different factors that go into SEO, and domain names are one of them. For instance, if parked domains are actively used and contain the same content as your primary domain, search engines may penalize your websites for duplicate content. However, if you set up redirects from all of your parked domains to your primary, you can leave your parked domains empty – and should someone try accessing one of them, they will be redirected to your primary website.
As for addon domains, when used correctly, they can have a positive effect on your SEO. Take your blog, for example. If you create an addon domain for your blog, you can publish fresh content without cluttering your website. This will give you an opportunity to rank for different keywords, which can help drive more traffic to your primary website.
The same applies to your subdomains. Since they are usually considered entirely different entities, they become opportunities for optimization and ranking. The key is to make sure you aren’t posting repetitive or duplicate content. If you find that either your addon domains or subdomains are duplicate in nature, then your best option for SEO is to set up redirects.
"With 18 years of website development experience, you can trust that my priority is creating a website that will help you reach your business goals."
Website Development Simplified
If the idea of deciding between domain names and trying to figure out the difference between addon domains and parked domains has you feeling a bit unease – you’re not alone. To build a successful website, you need extensive knowledge in all aspects of website development.
Instead of stressing yourself out over the details, you could be putting your time and skills to better use. That’s why you should consider outsourcing your website development to someone who specializes in this area.
With 18 years of website development experience, you can trust that my priority is creating a website that will help you reach your business goals.
Ready to get started? Contact me today, and let’s get your website up and running!
Stay up-to-date on trends and services
Ready to get started?
Let's get your website up and running!
