More domains, subdomains or a folder — what's the difference?
When to use yourdomain.com/blog, blog.yourdomain.com or another domain on the same hosting — how to set each up and the SEO differences.
Your hosting serves its main domain. To put more on it, there are three ways.
1. Subdomain
blog.yourdomain.com on the same hosting.
Set up: your project → Website → Domains → Subdomains of yourdomain.com → New subdomain. Type the name (blog) and the Folder for its files (in your home folder), then Add subdomain. «*» makes one subdomain for every name (anything.yourdomain.com) — useful for apps with a subdomain per customer.
Use when:
- it is the same project, a separate area (
docs.,app.,shop.); - a different stack or team works on it.
SEO note: search engines treat subdomains partly as separate sites; authority does not fully carry over from the main domain.
2. Another domain
yourotherdomain.com on the same hosting.
Set up: your project → Domains → Add a domain (buy, transfer or connect one you own). A new domain starts as Just keep it; then choose what it does:
- The same website — it opens the website of your main domain, the address bar keeps the other domain;
- Redirect — visitors go to your main address or any other, 301 permanent (best for search engines) or 302 temporary, with or without the rest of the address;
- A website of its own — it gets its own folder on the hosting for a separate site or an application.
The domain must point to Rivervo — see Connecting a domain you already own.
Use when: a separate business or brand, or an old domain you want to send to the new one.
Plan limits: how many websites you can add depends on the plan — see the hosting page. Overview of the website shows what you use now. Need more? Change plan.
3. Folder
yourdomain.com/blog — the same domain, a different path.
Set up: create the folder in Files (public_html/blog) and put a site in it, or choose A sub-folder when you install WordPress.
Use when: you want all search authority on one domain; a blog or docs as part of the main site.
Comparison
| Subdomain | Another domain | Folder | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address | x.yourdomain.com | yourotherdomain.com | yourdomain.com/x |
| Same domain | Yes | No | Yes |
| Folder of its own | Yes | Yes («A website of its own») | It is the folder |
| SEO authority shared with the main domain | Partly | No | Fully |
| Costs another domain | No | Yes | No |
Changing a folder later
Domains → the website of a domain → Its files are in the folder → Change. The same for a subdomain (Change the folder).
SSL
Every domain and subdomain on the hosting gets a free certificate automatically once it points to Rivervo. Check them under Website → SSL.