Subdomains: how do I link multiple subdomains to a web hosting plan?
Do you need different websites for your online business? Do you want to give them an international or multi-local feel?
Simplify your website navigation
Why and how to organise a website with subdomains:
- 1. It all starts with a primary domain name
- 2. What does hosting with subdomains involve?
- 3. When should I consider creating a website with subdomains?
- 4. Why use subdomains?
- 5. Which hosting plan should I choose for my subdomain requirements?
- 6. How do I configure the subdomains in my OVHcloud web hosting plan?
1. It all starts with a primary domain name
Before thinking about your subdomain strategy, choosing a domain name (which will be the root of all your subdomains) along with an extension is an important step. Your primary domain name must reflect your company’s image. It must be simple to spell, easy to understand and perfectly recognisable. A domain name is the very identity of a website. Before considering potential subdomain variations, think about a simple hierarchy that you want your website to have. This will make creating subdomains easier and more logical. As a registrar, OVHcloud offers many options for creating new domains.
2. What does hosting with subdomains involve?
Subdomains allow you to link directories in your sitemap to a particular address, containing a subdomain of your primary domain.
For example, “www.mydomain.com” may be linked to your site's root, while “section1.mydomain.com” could be linked to a specific directory on the site hosting the section 1 content.
3. When should I consider creating a website with subdomains?
Subdomains are employed in several common use cases. In the example above, the developer organised their website into three independent sections according to their activity: a photo area (images), a discussion area (forums) and a shopping area (shop).
International websites, or one with a multi-local presence, often organise their sites into subdomains. It is common to encounter a website structure such as: “uk.mysite.com”, “france.mysite.com” or “london.mysite.com”.
You can also consider a combination of this content tiering, such as “uk.blog.mysite.com”, which would be associated with your website’s /blog/uk directory.
4. Why use subdomains?
There are several advantages to using subdomains.
- They allow you to manage different websites or activities separately, but on a single hosting plan with a single entry point.
- You can set it up very easily via the “Multisite” administration interface in your Control Panel.
- SEO optimisation: each configured subdomain is viewed as a separate site by search engines.
5. Which hosting plan should I choose for my subdomain requirements?
Subdomains are aliases of your primary domain name. You can manage them in the “Multisite” section of your OVHcloud Control Panel.
Your primary domain name has three aliases:
- mydomain.com
- www.mydomain.com
- URL to access the hosting cluster
In addition to these initial three domains reserved for your website, the possible number of aliases you can add depends on the hosting plan you choose, and is set according to the recommended number of websites. For example, with the Professional plan, which includes 10 websites, you can hierarchise your website with a maximum of 7 additional subdomains.
Table comparing the number of possible subdomains for each Web Hosting plan:
| Solution | |||
| Domain | 1 free domain name in the first year* | 1 free domain name in the first year* | 1 free domain name in the first year* |
| Subdomains (multisite) | 5 sites | 10 sites | Unlimited |
| Storage | |||
| CDN | As an option | As an option | Included |
* The following extensions are included for a period of one year with any purchase of an OVHcloud web hosting plan, then renewal is charged at the annual price for the extension selected from the following list: .com, .net, .biz, .info, .org, .nom, .fr, .re, .eu, .be, .es, .it, .de, .at, .co.uk, .me.uk, .org.uk, .nl, .us, .ca, .cz, .ch, .in, .lt, .dk, .pm, .so, .se, .yt, .tf, .wf, .pt, .pl, .ovh, .xyz. Not valid for extensions that include free transfer.
Services included with all of our web hosting plans
- Subdomain management
Subdomains allow you to link the different aliases of your primary domain name with specific directories on your website.
- Let's Encrypt SSL certificate
An SSL certificate is included with your web hosting plan. It validates your website’s security for your visitors by displaying the HTTPS protocol. You can enable this easily via your Control Panel.
- Anti-DDoS protection
Stay permanently protected from distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
- Backup and restore
Your web hosting plan includes a backup system for SQL files and databases. If you need to, you can restore from your latest backup.
- A free domain name for the first year
Your OVHcloud-hosted domain name is free for the first year.
- OVHcloud Web Statistics
Measure your website activity with our Web Statistics solution, included with your hosting plan.
6. How do I configure the subdomains in my OVHcloud web hosting plan?
Consult our documentation for a guide on multi-site and subdomain management.
To go into more detail, you can refer to this guide on configuring CDN with subdomains.
FAQ
What is a subdomain?
For each domain name, you can create several subdomains. This is a separate extension of the domain name, placed at the front of the address. The most globally-known is “www”, but you can use any word when creating your subdomain.
Why create a subdomain?
If you are planning to add blogs or forums to your website’s architecture, it would be a good idea for them to have their own “identity”, especially if you want to give prominence to them.
Subdomains are also useful if your business is geographically segmented, for example with “cityname.yourcompany.com”. Do you offer a flagship product with a strong identity? Make it stand out with its own subdomain.
How do I create a subdomain with OVHcloud?
In the OVHcloud Control Panel, click on “Web Cloud” then on the relevant domain name, where you can create and manage all of your subdomains directly.
Which hosting plan should I choose for a website with subdomains?
For most architectures of this type, a shared hosting plan like our Professional Hosting offer will be suitable. However, you can add more resources if you need them with a virtual private server (VPS) or dedicated server.